Darren SamuelsohnVerified account

Pharmacies and hospitals are finding they have leftover shots at the end of the day, and the choice is either to toss them or give them to the next person who asks for them.

"Our goal is to have minimal wastage of vaccine," said LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of DC's Health Department. "If there are people who are available at the end of the day to be vaccinated then you should vaccinate them."

Facilities aren't advertising that they have leftover vaccines, but the word is getting around, including on social media. In a Reddit thread healthcare workers are exchanging stories about being forced to throw away extra vaccines.

Arianna Miskin, a 25-year-old master's degree student at George Washington University, heard about leftover shots in NY & KY so decided to try her luck at the nation's capital. "I figured if it was happening there then it might be happening here," Miskin told @Politicsinsider

On Sunday, she called a Safeway pharmacy near her home and they told her to call back at 4PM. Instead, she went to the store at 3:30PM to wait. 2 older adults were in front of her, & others behind her were couples who looked like they were in their 20s & 30s, she said.

Miskin said she would have stepped aside if she had seen older adults or people w/ severe illnesses waiting in line behind her: "I would prefer people who are higher risk get the vaccine, but I also prefer people utilize the vaccine as opposed to them getting discarded."

Miskin receives a text every day with a link to a questionnaire from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking about her symptoms to track any side effects. She has a sore arm, she said, a common symptom from other vaccines, including the flu shot.

Now that she's been through the process, Miskin said that people thinking about getting leftover vaccines should call first. Pharmacies have different times of operation, & they won't always have leftovers. Some people might wait in line and get sent home w/o a shot, she said.

Five pharmacists at Safeway & Giant Food in DC confirmed to Insider that giving out the extra shots was the practice at their stores. Not every store has vials left over at the end of the day, but some pharmacists said they're already getting tons of calls about the possibility.