The provincial government of Negros Occidental will return 1,492 vials or 14,920 doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines to the Department of Health (DoH).

Dr. Claudelia Pabillo, in charge of the provincial cold storage facility, said the expired vaccine doses were part of 4,530 vials or 45,300 doses delivered in the province on November 8.

She said they were unable to distribute the vaccines because city and municipal health offices in the province were hesitant to accept the vials after they learned that the expiration of the vaccine was near.

“We value vaccines and we really wanted to use them, but we value the vaccine recipients more. The potency of the vaccine decreases as the period of expiration nears. So, we don’t roll it out because it may not meet up the expected potency of the vaccines. Both are important, but we value more the safety of the vaccines,” provincial administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz said.

Pabillo also said that the expired vaccines are still in a cold storage facility and will be returned to the DoH for disposal.