BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2021) The German Federal states are planning to return unused doses of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines to federal storage facilities, German media reported on Friday.
Vaccination centers in the states of Hamburg and Berlin intend to send back some 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine which are to expire in a few months, according to the DPA news agency. Other federal states, including Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Wurttemberg, may reportedly join the initiative.
Der Spiegel magazine reported that some of these vaccines can no longer be used due to their expiring shelf lives. About 4,000 AstraZeneca doses are expected to expire in Baden-Wurttemberg by the end of the month. A similar situation is unfolding in Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein, while Saarland will have to discard as many as 6,000 doses.
The move comes less than a day after Germany's pledge to go international with vaccine donations, as reported by� Deutsche Welle.
