Why Was the Ministry of Health Hiding Spoiled Vaccines?

The newspaper ‘Hayots Ashkharh’ sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Health over a month ago to find out how many doses of vaccines were spoiled in Armenia up to the date of our inquiry. On September 28, the ministry responded to our inquiry stating that no doses had spoiled up to that point.

The question was also directed to Minister Anahit Avanesyan earlier in Parliament by the head of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, Taguhi Tovmasyan. The minister did not respond, suggesting that the questions be sent in writing.

About a month and a half after our inquiry, another media outlet received an answer to a similar question from the ministry stating: “Since the start of coronavirus vaccinations in 2021, Armenia has acquired 389,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 27,680 have spoiled due to expiration.”

According to the information provided by the ministry, it appears that only in the month and a half since our original inquiry, 27,680 doses have spoiled, which, let’s agree, does not seem very credible. How could it be that not a single dose spoiled from the time the vaccine was acquired until September 28, and yet nearly 28,000 doses spoiled in just a month and a half?

The ministry’s response is also lacking logic because in many cases, a single vial of vaccine is used to vaccinate only one person, and the remaining volume of the vaccine simply becomes unusable, as once a vial is opened, the vaccine must either be consumed entirely or the unused portion must be discarded, since it cannot be kept under room or refrigerated conditions.

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