Over 12.6 million Covid-19 vaccines have been administered here, according to the HSE. Its annual report for 2020 showed that 8.1 million primary doses have been given and 4.5 million booster doses.
There was a write off of over €94m on expired vaccines covering over 850,000 vaccines. These vaccines expired for a range of reasons, including reduced demand and in some cases policy decisions not to use vaccines for certain groups.
The HSE said that a substantial volume of vaccines was purchased to ensure the opportunity to be vaccinated could be availed of by everybody.
It also pointed out that the decision to purchase specific Covid-19 vaccines was not within the control of the HSE and was a Government decision aligned to EU requirements.