KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — The Knox County Health Department (KCHD) said it had to throw away a small number of COVID-19 vaccines last week because there was no one to give them to.
The supply of the vaccine has started to exceed the demand for the shots across the country.
KCHD said Monday it is still administering an average of more than 900 vaccines at clinics scheduled at its Broadway Vaccine Clinic, but that appointment times are filling more slowly.
People are also missing appointments. Dr. Martha Buchanan said last month that if you have scheduled an appointment with KCHD and end up getting a vaccine somewhere else, please let them know. It has been the practice of KCHD to call people on a waiting list at the end of the day if there are vaccines still available.
"For the first time last week we discarded a small number of doses due to the missed appointments and the inability to locate individuals available to receive the vaccine," said a KCHD spokesperson in an email to 10News.
The spokesperson said fewer than five doses had to be discarded.
"As supply is more readily available, this issue is becoming more common across the country, so KCHD tries to limit excess doses," the spokesperson said.
All Americans are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the CDC, Right now, almost 141 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. That's just over 42 percent of the adult population.
In Tennessee, about 34 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.