"We are now paying that price for being one of the first on this planet to start getting vaccinated," the minister told BNS. "Back then, nobody knew how many vaccines would be needed. We had to reserve many different vaccines as it was not clear which would come first, which would come second, how they would be delivered."
In total, almost 8.34 million doses of vaccine have been delivered to Lithuania, and the country now has around 2.74 million unused dozes.
The Health Ministry says some 88,000 doses have been disposed of after expiry. And another 700,000 doses are set to expire in late October.
Jurgita Grebenkoviene, chancellor at the Health Ministry says there's a risk that this number will increase in the long run as people will not want to boost their immunity with the old vaccines once the modified vaccines are approved in the fall.