The Department of Health (DoH) explained on Thursday its unutilized Covid-19 vaccines, which expired before the end of their shelf life in various offices and warehouses.

The DoH made the statement after the Commission on Audit (CoA) flagged the agency over P11.2 billion worth of expired drugs and medicines, including 7,035,161 vials of Covid-19 vaccines in 2023.

In a statement, the DoH said, "there may be no other resolution but to dispose of the expired vaccines since no extension was granted by the Food and Drug Administration."

It added that the same 2023 Annual Audit Report from CoA acknowledged the DoH Disposal Committee is working on the remaining expired vaccines stored in the agency's warehouses.

The DoH noted that other operating units within the agency have also implemented strategies to minimize or avoid wastage in the future.

The Health department also stressed that the Covid-19 vaccination program "did not have the benefit of years of planning and preparation, like any other routine and established vaccination programs."

"It was an emergency, a matter of life and death. Similar to many governments worldwide, the Philippine government, through the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, decided to have more Covid-19 vaccines available for all Filipinos at the soonest possible time, than none at all," the DoH said.

"Even as the national government advised all concerned that it would be procuring vaccines for all Filipinos, some local government units and private sector entities insisted on procuring their own. As more doses arrived from the triple procurement efforts, there were even donations from the COVAX facility and bilateral channels (i.e., country to country)," it added.

The DoH further noted that in April 2022, the international scientific community pointed out that Covid-19 vaccine wastage rates could reach 30 percent due to expiration and being "unwanted."

"Researchers highlighted an imbalance between supply and demand for these vaccines during a time of global emergency. In the early months of vaccine development, manufacturers raced to mass-produce. However, by 2021-2022, as supply was no longer an issue, demand sharply declined. The mild but highly transmissible Omicron variant strengthened herd immunity through natural infection, reducing the occurrence of critical symptoms. As a result, the public began to view Covid-19 similarly to seasonal influenza, and many vaccinated people chose not to receive a booster shot," it added.

The DoH also thanked the CoA for its work "to promote transparency, accountability, and good governance in the management of public funds and property."

"We also thank the CoA for acknowledging that the DoH Health Emergency Management Bureau now has guidelines on managing logistics for use during emergencies and disasters, particularly for proper storage conditions of health commodities, considering their shelf life, to avoid wastage."