Nigeria has destroyed more than a million doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines in a bid to assure a wary public that they have been taken out of circulation. The destruction came more than a week after health authorities said some COVID-19 doses donated by rich Western nations had a shelf life that left only weeks to administer the jabs.
The Reuters news agency reported on December 7 that about one million COVID-19 vaccines were estimated to have expired in Nigeria in November without being used. At a dumpsite in Abuja, a bulldozer crushed AstraZeneca shots that were packed in cardboard boxes and plastic as reporters and health officials watched.
Al Jazeera’s Fidelis Mbah, reporting from Abuja, said the delivery of the vaccines has been accompanied by conspiracy theories via social media and word of mouth.
“So the government has been making a very conscious effort to make sure that Nigerians are reassured that these vaccines are very effective. This is why they decided to make a public show of the destruction of the expired jabs,” he said.
Faisal Shuaib, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency executive director told reporters that a shortage of vaccine supplies on the continent had forced Nigeria to take the doses, knowing full well they had a short shelf life.
“We have successfully withdrawn 1,066,214 doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines. We have kept our promise to be transparent to Nigerians. The destruction today is an opportunity for Nigerians to have faith in our vaccination programme,” Shuaib said.
Source: Al Jazeera
