About three out of every 10 COVID-19 vaccine doses secured with taxpayer money in South Korea have been discarded without being used.
According to data submitted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, a total of 229.64 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been introduced into the country since 2020. Of these, 152.66 million doses had been used for vaccinations as of the end of March this year, while 10.24 million doses were donated overseas. The remaining 66.18 million doses were discarded, accounting for 28.8% of the total. Of the 66.18 million doses discarded, 65.81 million (99.4%) were disposed of after their expiration dates had passed.
The amount discarded has increased each year, rising from 1.7 million doses in 2021 to 10.07 million in 2022, 18.75 million in 2023 and 33.28 million in 2024. The figure has grown roughly 20-fold over four years. However, the total cost of the discarded vaccines remains unknown. The KDCA said the unit price and contract terms are difficult to disclose due to confidentiality clauses in advance purchase agreements.
The KDCA explained that the large volume of discarded doses was unavoidable as the country responded aggressively to COVID-19, and that similar situations have continued in other countries. "In the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, countries were desperate to secure vaccines, and Korea was no exception," a KDCA official said. "But over time, as virus variants diversified and more people chose not to get vaccinated, the amount discarded also grew." The United States is reported to have discarded more than 300 million doses, while Germany discarded 200 million and Japan 240 million.
"The fact that a significant portion of vaccines secured with taxpayer money has been discarded warrants serious attention," Rep. Kim said. "Given the upward trend in discarded volumes, there is a need to review the entire system for adjusting quantities in line with demand changes and for inventory management." She added, "We must overhaul the full-cycle response system that includes not only vaccine procurement but also utilization and management," stressing that "the system should be improved so that similar problems do not recur in future infectious disease responses."
Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccinations for high-risk groups have been extended from the end of April to the end of June. The KDCA added that "the expiration date of the vaccines used during the extended period is July."
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