Connect with us

Health

1 million COVID-19 vaccines expired in Nigeria —  Report

Published

on

Just as the world races to vaccinate more of its citizens, a report by Reuters revealed that up to one million COVID-19 vaccines expired in Nigeria last month, November.

According to the report, the expired doses were made by AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and delivered from Europe via COVAX.

A third source quoted by the media said some of the doses arrived within four-to-six weeks of expiry and could not be used in time, despite efforts by the Nigerian health authorities.

A count of the expired doses is still underway and an official number is yet to be finalised, the sources said.

“Nigeria is doing everything it can. But it’s struggling with short shelf life vaccines,” one told Reuters. “Now (supply is) unpredictable and they’re sending too much.”

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation in response noted that “Vaccine wastage is to be expected in any immunization programme, and in the context of COVID-19 deployment is a global phenomenon”. It said vaccines delivered with “very short” shelf lives were a problem.

However, the Federal Government had earlier in the week said only about three per cent of the population has been vaccinated against COVID-19 largely due to poor access to the vaccine by developing countries.

NewsWireNGR Latest News in Nigeria

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *