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The government of Nigeria has destroyed this wednesday over a million expired AstraZeneca vaccines what were donated by various rich countries and shipped, according to the authorities, “on short notice and with a short shelf life.”
“We could have followed the advice of some experts and tested these vaccines after their expiration date, but (…) we made the decision to destroy them,” confirmed the director of the National Development Agency for Primary Health Care of Nigeria, the doctor Faisal Shuaib.
Shuaib explained that these vaccines expired in November and were part of a batch of more than 2.5 million doses that Nigeria received on October 11 and 29, COVAX mechanism of the World Health Organization in which developed countries donate vaccines to underdeveloped countries.
“A few months ago, when we were offered these doses, we knew that they had a short shelf life, but we accepted them because we lived in a scenario where the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 was very scarce, “said Shuaib.
At the time, according to Shuaib, the “countries that make the vaccines” were stockpiling them in their warehouses and “offered donations” to Nigeria only “when they were about to expire.” “Even so, we appreciate donations from those countries “added.
Logistical problems
In addition, the NPHCDA recognized that several logistical inconveniences and other problems on the ground also contributed to vaccines expiring before they could be administered.
Shuaib, however, praised the health workers for their efforts to try to deliver these vaccines in the shortest time possible, describing them as “heroes” who worked tirelessly.
“We worked around the clock in very extreme situations just to make sure Nigerians had access to vaccines,” said the NPHCDA director.
“Short shelf life”
Last November, the African Union Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) COVAX mechanism called on the international community to follow strict standards when delivering doses against Covid-19 to the countries of the continent.
These institutions regretted in a joint statement that many donations were sent to African countries “on short notice and a short shelf life”, which makes health authorities have problems planning vaccination campaigns.
For now, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, with some 206 million inhabitants, registered more than 231,410 cases of covid-19, of which about 3,000 ended in deaths.
So far, just over 2% of the total Nigerian population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus with the full schedule.
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