What happens to the needles and syringes used for the COVID-19 vaccine? Curious Texas investigates
As of August 12, nearly 1.4 million people in Dallas County had received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and approximately 1.2 million had received a second.
That means millions of contaminated syringes and needles have been discarded in the US – and billions more have been thrown away worldwide.
So a reader asked Curious Texas, “What happens to all those needles and syringes that are used for the [COVID-19] Vaccinations? “
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, needles and syringes are classified as sharp objects – objects that can pierce the skin.
All Texas vaccine administrators, including pharmacies, must meet the requirements of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
“Medical waste disposal requirements can vary from state to state, and Walgreens meets all state, state and local requirements,” said company spokeswoman Eve Zibel.
The state environmental quality commission classifies all medical waste from COVID-19 as regulated medical waste. All used sharp objects are placed in a container approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and once the containers are three-quarters full, they are sealed with tape and marked as non-recyclable.
The sharps containers are delivered to authorized medical waste treatment facilities from the vaccine sites themselves or via the U.S. Postal Service or a registered medical waste carrier.
Texas has 15 medical waste processing facilities authorized by the TCEQ. In Dallas County, the authorized location is the Garland Stericycle facility.
Stericycle uses an autoclave that uses high pressure steam to kill pathogens to disinfect the waste before final disposal.
After the waste has been disinfected, it is compacted and sent to a landfill or waste incineration plant.
Tarrant County is home to Oncore Technology’s Grand Prairie facility, which houses the medical waste treatment facilities. The treatment of the processors eliminates almost 100% of the bacteria in the waste. The waste is then shredded and taken to a landfill.
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