Exclusive: Up to 1 million COVID vaccines expired in Nigeria last month

DAKAR, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Up to one million COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have expired in Nigeria last month without being used, two sources told Reuters, one of the biggest single losses of doses that shows the difficulty African nations have getting shots in arms.

Governments on the continent of over one billion people have been pushing for more vaccine deliveries as inoculation rates lag richer regions, increasing the risk of new variants such as the Omicron coronavirus now spreading across South Africa.

In Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and home to more than 200 million people, fewer than 4% of adults have been fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

A recent surge in supply has caused a new problem, however: many African countries are finding they do not have the capacity to manage the shots, some of which come with a short shelf life.

The expired doses were made by AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and delivered from Europe, the sources with direct knowledge of vaccine delivery and use told Reuters. They were supplied via COVAX, the dose-sharing facility led by the GAVI vaccine alliance and the WHO which is increasingly reliant on donations.

A third source with knowledge of the delivery said some of the doses arrived within four-to-six weeks of expiry and could not be used in time, despite efforts by 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."

A spokesperson for the National Primary Health Care Development Agency - the body responsible for vaccinations in Nigeria - said the number of vaccines received and used is still being tallied and it would share its findings in the coming days.

The WHO said doses had expired, but declined to give a figure. It said 800,000 additional doses that had been at risk of expiry in October were all used in time.

"Vaccine wastage is to be expected in any immunization programme, and in the context of COVID-19 deployment is a global phenomenon," the WHO said in a statement responding to Reuters' questions. It said vaccines delivered with "very short" shelf lives were a problem.

Nigeria's vaccine loss appears to be one of the largest of its kind over such a short time period, even outstripping the total number of vaccines that some other countries in the region have received.

It is not alone in wasting vaccines, however.

Across Europe, countries including Germany and Switzerland have struggled to maximise the use of doses. In January, officials in Britain forecast wastage of about 10% of vaccines. In April, France's health minister told local media that 25% of AstraZeneca, 20% of Moderna (MRNA.O) and 7% of Pfizer (PFE.N) vaccines were being wasted at the time.

WEAK FOUNDATION

High vaccination rates in Africa are vital to ending the COVID-19 pandemic globally, health experts say. Only 102 million people, or 7.5% of the Africa's population, are fully vaccinated, according to the WHO.

Shortages of staff, equipment and funds have hampered rollouts. An anticipated surge in supply, comprising millions of doses in the coming weeks, could expose those weaknesses further, experts warn.

Nigeria's underfunded health system lacks everyday supplies like cotton swabs. Spotty power supply means fridges holding vaccines need to be kept on expensive fuel generators. Millions of citizens live in areas racked by banditry or Islamist insurgencies that medics cannot reach.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/exclusive-up-1-million-covid-vaccines-wasted-nigeria-last-month-2021-12-08/

I need to get my own Jab ASAP.

All this conspiracy theorist dey spoil vaccine for us!

The government has never cared about the people. How will they convince the same people that they mean well or it isn't because they are cashing out?

Make e no b say na expired one dem gimme sef.
Astazeneca

Damnnn niggarrrr
Them go don give people expired ones since

We don't want your vaccine

The despot in Aso Rock and other corrupt politicians don’t care as far as they and their families have been vaccinated. WHO and other international bodies will provide the vaccines as well as money to sensitize Nigerians in the end

Why not palliatives.

Una no count am well bcoz e suppose reach billions wey waste since the leaders choosed to be shallow minded..
at first we didn't buy d covid hype n we just played to the script due to d fear of the unknown but all that fears got dead n buried after we saw alot of palliatives dt was stored for selfish reasons in different store houses in hidden location of some states dt were kept to be relooted by our greedy leaders..
na den Nigerians stopped taking any covid matters serious bcoz it never existed..
if covid really came with d buzz dey painted it with, Nigeria population for no reach 1 million bcoz people for don die troway bt instead we de increase..

These people never truly tell us wetin dem carry for mind honestly!!

Why won't it waste, Nigerians are not convinced enough to take it

Who dem b one give d vaccine before

Nigeria obviously don't have the equipment to store the vaccine. We don't even have enough staff strength to administer the vaccine. Nigeria doses should simply be donated to more serious countries.
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Una never see anything

They hoard tthe vaccines for themselves and only push it over to Africa when it's one month to expire. Then blame us when they get expired.
Fools

SH1TH0LE..

Hope it's not expired one they are now forcing civil servants to get ....

I don't understand is it by force to get the vaccine when 2000 died in a population of 200 million make dey return the vaccine to Britain they need it more than us

Yes, It has to. Thesame way palliatives expired .


Nonsense

Health authorities are hoarding it, hoping travellers would bribe them for shots.

12

Ok

Nigeria is a dysfunctional country run by dysfunctional systems and currently an even more dysfunctional government.

I’m not in the least surprised.

I blame Buhari for this

What are we to do with this news ? This was expected on the African continent.with it's weak healthcare system, Reluctance of it's citizens to get vaccinated due to some facts peddle by unknown forces.