Ontario’s auditor general says the province wasted 38 per cent of COVID-19 vaccine doses between February and June because it overestimated demand for boosters, and her annual report also identifies that the province is running a disorganized booking system and doesn’t fully track adult vaccinations
Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk says in her report today that overall COVID-19 vaccine wastage in the province is nine per cent, or 3.4 million doses
She says about half of that could have been avoided with better forecasting of demand
Lysyk says wastage rates varied quite a bit between public health units, and one private company wasted 57 per cent of its supply between May 2021 and May 2022, but the province hasn’t determined the causes
She also identifies problems with the system for booking vaccination appointments, as the province created its own portal but about half of public health units are using their own, as well as some hospitals, pharmacies and private companies using their own methods
Lysyk says since people could book multiple appointments, that led to about 227,000 no-shows in 2021 in the provincial booking system alone, which likely contributed to vaccine wastage
As well, the auditor says that despite the Ministry of Health saying in 2014 that it was going to expand a system used for tracking student vaccinations to keep vaccine records for all Ontarians, that has not happened
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2022
