By Associated Press and Bryan Anderson | January 21, 2021 at 4:39 PM EST – Updated January 21 at 5:02 PM
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina is seeing a small amount of coronavirus vaccines wasted.
The state has not publicly shared the number of wasted doses due to a vaccine being stored too long in a freezer or not being administered in a timely manner once it has been taken out of a freezer. Dr. Mandy Cohen, the state’s top public health official, estimated the waste is “in the tens of doses.”
She also said at a news conference Thursday that the Department of Transportation will offer free rides to vaccination clinics for people who need transportation. People 65 years or older are currently eligible to get vaccinated.
State health officials say more than 573,000 vaccines have been distributed thus far.
Cohen wants the existing supply of first doses to dwindle. She said that would demonstrate that the state is more efficiently utilizing its resources.
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