Nigeria destroys 1 mn doses of expired AstraZeneca Covid va…

,menafan– IANS)

Abuja, December 23 (IANS)| The Nigerian government has destroyed more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines withdrawn from across the country after they were identified as having a short shelf life.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), which coordinates vaccination in the country, and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control monitored the practice on Wednesday at a dump site in a suburb of the Nigerian capital Abuja, news Agency reported Xinhua.

Nigeria, the most populous African country, decided to join other African countries that had previously decimated doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the same reason, boosting the confidence of Nigerian citizens in the ongoing nationwide immunization program. To promote, said Faisal Shuaib, quoted NPHCDA at the major dumpsite.

“We withdrew approximately 1,066,214 doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccine from across the country,” he said, noting that vaccine doses may still be potent before Nigerian health officials decide to withdraw them .

According to Nigerian health officials, the manufacturers of those doses of the vaccine offered to extend the shelf life but the Nigerian government rejected it.

‘The work we do is work that requires trust. It is a sacred faith bestowed upon us by the plethora of Nigerians,’ said Shueb. “A few months back, when these vaccines were presented to us, we knew that they have a short shelf life. But we were living in an environment where the supply of COVID-19 vaccines was very short.

The senior public health official said that there are still such short shelf-life vaccines in Nigeria which pose many challenges for the country.

According to Shuaib, more than 10 million people have been vaccinated against Kovid-19 in Nigeria so far.

According to media reports in early December, Nigeria is estimated to end up without using more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines in November. and expired doses manufactured by AstraZeneca and delivered from Europe.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Health responded quickly and acknowledged that some vaccine doses that were given by donors had residual shelf lives.

Health Minister Osagi Ehanaire said in a statement that vaccines received as donations through the international vaccine sharing scheme COVAX and its African counterpart AVAT facility had residual shelf lives, giving the country a ‘limited period to facilitate distribution and use. ‘ was left with.

AVAT, or African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, launched by the African Union, aims to complement initiatives such as the Global Vaccine Equity Mechanism, COVAX, to secure vaccine doses and target 60 percent of Africa’s population to receive vaccination .

Ehnire said vaccines that have expired have been withdrawn and will be destroyed.

The minister said the dilemma is not specific to Nigeria, but a situation in which many low- and middle-income countries find themselves. He urged the donors to ‘start this process early and create a well-oiled route for speedy shipment and delivery’. COVAX and AVAT facilities, to reduce the risk of termination’.

–IANS

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