According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control (CDC), at least 2.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccinations donated to African countries have expired, with the vaccines' short shelf life given as the major reason.
Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong held an online briefing Thursday, during which he said donors should send vaccines to the continent three to six months before their expiration date, the Associated Press reported. The current number of expired doses is only about 0.5 percent of the total donated amount; however, Nkengasong said he is unhappy to see any amount expire.
"Any dose of the vaccine that expired pains me because that is a life that can potentially be saved," Nkengasong was quoted by the AP.
African nations have been encouraged to refuse vaccine donations if they have only one or two months before they expire, according to Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, deputy director of the Africa CDC. Ouma talked about vaccine donations at the International Conference on Public Health in Africa, which was covered in December by online news platform Devex.
"Just don't," Ouma was quoted by Devex. "It's not a donation anymore. If someone is giving you vaccines that are going to expire in less than three months, that is dumping. We are encouraging our members that don't take anything like that because it's a headache. It's going to expire in your hands if you don't have a system that is ready to absorb it."
In April, the Democratic Republic of Congo returned 1.3 million doses before they expired, giving them back to COVAX, an international group providing low- and middle-income countries with free vaccine doses, according to Devex.
The Nigerian government announced it will no longer accept vaccines with short shelf lives in order to reduce wastage, according to Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the executive director and CEO of Nigeria's National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Devex reported.
Out of the 572 million COVID-19 vaccination doses donated, more than 60 percent have been administered, according to the AP.
"We've moved from a situation where we were receiving two to three million doses per week toward the situation where we are receiving around 20 million doses per week," Dr. Richard Mihigo, coordinator of the Immunization and Vaccines Development Program at Africa's World Health Organization (WHO) regional office, was quoted by Devex.
The WHO's Africa office announced Thursday that the continent's Omicron wave appears to be receding, the AP reported. New confirmed cases are down by 20 percent and deaths are down by 8 percent from the previous week.
Of the 1.3 billion people in Africa, just over 10 percent are fully vaccinated, the AP added. Out of 54 countries, 10.4 million COVID-19 cases and 235,000 deaths have been confirmed.
"We've seen remarkable uptake of vaccines in settings where we engage the community…and religious leaders," Nkengasong was quoted by the AP.
According to Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Africa director, vaccines are Africa's "best defense" against severe illness, death and overwhelmed health systems.
"Africa must not only broaden vaccinations but also gain increased and equitable access to critical COVID-19 therapeutics to save lives and effectively combat this pandemic," Moeti was quoted by the AP. "The deep inequity that left Africa at the back of the queue for vaccines must not be repeated with life-saving treatments."
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