African countries urged to use vaccines quickly after expiry confusion
The Peninsula
JOHANNESBURG - The African Union's disease control body on Thursday urged countries to use COVID-19 vaccines donated to them quickly to save lives and livelihoods, after confusion in Malawi and South Sudan about whether doses they received had expired.
"My appeal to member states is: if we are doing our part to mobilise these vaccines, you do your part and use the vaccines," John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a news conference. Malawi plans to destroy more than 16,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India because the shots were not administered before the April 13 expiry date on the packaging. The doses were supplied via the AU thanks to a donation from telecoms group MTNMore Related News