Nphcda chief Faisal Shuaib revealed plans to destroy expired drugs a week ago.
Shuaib regretted the situation, which he attributed to the short shelf life of the vaccines that arrived in the country, which in some batches did not exceed two weeks, the Sputnik news agency reported.
The head of the Nphcda explained that expired vaccines were withdrawn from the states of the country.
“We had the option if we followed the advice of some experts to test and use these vaccines even beyond the expiration date on the label, but working together with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (Nafdac), we took that decision to destroy these vaccines at the point of expiration. “
He also added that the Government took measures not only to safeguard the health of Nigerians, but also to build confidence in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
The official thanked all drug donors, but noted that importing vaccines with such a short shelf life is not in national interests.
According to the Nigerian channel Channels Television, from October 11 to 29, 2,594,100 doses of anticovid vaccines arrived in the country, more than 1.5 million vaccines have already been discarded.
AstraZeneca vaccine can be safely stored under refrigerated conditions for up to six months. But some of these vaccines are given with a short shelf life before they expire, making them difficult for countries to administer.
Nigeria is not the first African country to publicly destroy its expired vaccines.
Thousands of vaccine doses were destroyed in other countries because they exceeded their expiration dates.
Other lots are being returned by countries that say they won’t be able to use them before they expire.
Malawi was the first country to destroy more than 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, followed by South Sudan, which destroyed almost 60,000 doses.
Both countries had received these vaccines from the African Union but had not been able to administer them before their expiration date or April 13, 2021.
Source From: Ambito
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