Malawi Burns Expired COVID-19 Vaccine Amid Concerns of Low Uptake
Voice of America
LILONGWE - Malawi has burned nearly 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after slow uptake led to their expiration. Malawi authorities are struggling to administer more doses set to expire in June and are training heath workers to visit and inoculate people in villages.
The public incineration of the vaccine Wednesday in the capital was held in front of officials from the Treasury, anti-corruption bureau, the auditor general’s office and health rights activists. Speaking during the event at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo-Chiponda said the destruction was aimed to build public confidence in the safety of the vaccination program. “It has been very difficult to convince Malawians about the vaccine initially because of misinformation, disinformation and negative propaganda. So, we just wanted to assure Malawians that indeed what we had said that we are going to destroy them, it is happening now,” she said.A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.