Malawi has disclosed plans to destroy over 16 000 expired coronavirus vaccines donated to the country by the African Union three weeks ago.
The country received a total of 530,000 doses of covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine via the Covax program, from the Indian government, and the AU, and 46% have been used so far
According to the country’s Health Minister, of the 102,000 doses sent by the African Union (AU), some 16,400 were unused and expired
Since the first vaccinations in March, Malawi has only vaccinated 300,000 people out of the 11 million targeted. A target of 60% of the population is needed “to be deemed sufficiently protected”
Vaccination rollouts have been particularly slow on the African continent. The lag is blamed on inadequate supplies, lack of financing and logistical problems.
The sluggish roll out is also blamed on low uptake due to vaccine hesitancy.