What We're Reading: Wasted Vaccine Doses at CVS, Walgreens; India Reports Record Daily COVID-19 Cases; Anxiety and J&J Vaccine

CVS, Walgreens Wasted More Vaccine Doses Than Most States Combined

According to government data obtained and published by Kaiser Health News, Walgreens and CVS were found to be responsible for a majority of wasted COVID-19 vaccine doses in the United States. Of the 182,874 wasted doses recorded by the CDC as of late March, CVS was responsible for nearly half and Walgreens for 21%, amounting to approximately 128,500 wasted shots. The data suggests that the 2 national pharmacy chains wasted more doses than states, US territories, and federal agencies combined, with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine noted to represent 60% of tossed doses.

Travel to India Restricted as Daily COVID-19 Cases Reach Record Tolls

Amid marked surges in COVID-19 cases reported in India, including a new global record of more than 400,000 new cases this past Saturday, the Biden administration announced it is imposing new restrictions on travel to the country as members of Congress decide how to further assist their battle against the virus. Reported by Roll Call, the United States sent 2 military cargos of medical aid to India last week, although leaders of the House India Caucus wrote to President Joe Biden this past Friday requesting more assistance citing data showing that 1 individual dies from COVID-19 in the Delhi territory every 4 minutes.

Some Adverse Reactions to J&J Vaccine Related to Anxiety

According to a CDC report published last Friday, dozens of reported physical adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may be caused by anxiety. Reported by Becker’s Hospital Review, the CDC said that as the J&J vaccine is a 1-shot dose, it may be preferred to other vaccines among people who have needle aversion, which would make it more likely for these populations to have anxiety-related incidents after vaccination, such as sweating and fainting. In fact, fainting after the J&J dose has been indicated to be 164 times more likely than after the flu vaccine.