Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has reacted to media reports that about one million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine expired in Nigeria last month.
He argued that the long-term measure to prevent such incident “is for Nigeria to produce its own vaccines, so that vaccines produced have at least 12 months to expire.”
Ehanire continued: “This is why the Federal Ministry of Health is collaborating with stakeholders to fast-track establishment of indigenous vaccine manufacturing capacity. This is a goal we are pursuing with dedication.”
In a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, the minister observed that the donation of surplus vaccines with expiring shelf lives to developing countries has been a matter of international discussion, adding that the nations accepted them because they bridged their critical vaccine supply gaps and, “being free, save us scarce foreign exchange procurement cost.”
He noted that this “dilemma is not typical to Nigeria, but a situation in which many low-and medium-income countries find themselves,” adding that vaccines that expired had been withdrawn, and will be destroyed accordingly, by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
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