The environmental impact of mass coronavirus vaccinations: A point of view on huge COVID-19 vaccine waste across the globe during ongoing vaccine campaigns.
Sci Total Environ
; 813: 151881, 2022 Mar 20.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1671130
ABSTRACT
The vaccine innovation is a ubiquitous preventive measure to the transmission of highly infectious SARS-COV-2. The ongoing mass coronavirus vaccination programmes have inadvertently become the bulk producers of biomedical and plastic waste triggering severe impact on the environment. The sustainable management of bio hazardous vaccine waste in particular; syringes, needles, used/un-used vials and single-use plastic equipment is of utmost importance. This perspective presents a critical point of view in terms of the generated vaccine waste and the subsequent knock-on effect on all aspects of ecosystem. The discussion includes dire consequences due to the release of huge amount of plastic-based personal protective equipment into marine environment. The pivotal crisis of CO2 emission during the manufacture and storage of different vaccines has contributed to global warming. The unavoidable generation of microfibers upon incineration, autoclaving, pyrolysis and open dumping of vaccine waste has further jeopardized the environment. In this vein, exploration of biodegradable materials for vaccine inoculation and development of green technologies for sound waste management is suggested to mitigate the environment pollution.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vaccines
/
Waste Management
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Sci Total Environ
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.scitotenv.2021.151881
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