A journalistic investigation based on data from 19 countries estimated that 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses worth 4 billion euros were wasted.
76% confidence
HealthEuropean Union
Omissions
The investigation (POLITICO) found AT LEAST 215 million doses, not 200 million; the claim rounds the dose count down by about 7.5%. Oxfam's note on the same investigation refers to a range of 'between 215 million and 312 million doses'.
The investigation was published in December 2022 and covers waste accumulated from late 2020 up to that date; the MEP cited it in September 2026, when the cumulative figure would be higher.
POLITICO explicitly stated that its own estimate 'is almost certainly an underestimate', so the €4 billion figure is a floor, not a precise total.
The investigation covers EU countries that responded (19 of them), not the whole EU, and the €4 billion is an estimated taxpayer cost based on purchase prices rather than audited public accounts.
Sources
SecondaryPOLITICO — EU countries destroy €4B worth of COVID vaccinesAt least 215 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines purchased by EU countries at the height of the pandemic have since been thrown away at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of €4 billion, an analysis by POLITICO reveals. And that's almost certainly an underestimate. Since the first coronavirus vaccines were approved in late 2020, EU countries have collectively taken delivery of 1.5 billion doses...
SecondaryHealth Policy Watch — EU Hoarding Then Dumping COVID Vaccinesnews broke that European countries had destroyed at least 215 million unwanted COVID-19 vaccine doses valued at over €4 billion. The 19 countries surveyed dumped 0.7 doses per resident - with Estonia and Germany being the most wasteful, according to Politico
SecondaryBalkanweb — Politico: EU countries spend four billion euros on vaccines against COVID-19Politico based its calculations on data from 19 European countries, including direct data from 15 countries and local media reports from four countries, suggesting that at least 215 million vaccine doses have been wasted. These figures are considered modest, and the actual number of discarded vaccines over time is likely to be much higher.