Thursday, July 17, 2025
  • REPORT A STORY
  • PRIVACY
  • CONTACT US
WITHIN NIGERIA - NEWS PICKS
  • HOME
  • FEATURES
  • NEWS PICKS
    • BREAKING
    • National
    • Local News
    • Politics
    • Diaspora
    • Business
    • Education
    • Sports
    • World News
      • Africa
      • U.S
      • Asia
      • Europe
    • XTRA
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • MORE
    • GIST
    • ARTICLES
    • VIDEOS
No Result
View All Result
WITHIN NIGERIA - NEWS PICKS
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • FEATURES
  • NEWS PICKS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • MORE

PHOTOS: Malawi burns over 19000 expired AstraZeneca vaccines after receiving 100000 donated doses

Davies Ngere Ify by Davies Ngere Ify
May 20, 2021
in Africa
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Malawi on Wednesday, May 19, destroyed 19,610 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that expired 18 days after arriving, despite assurances from the African Union (AU) and World Health Organisation (WHO) that the vaccines were safe until mid-July.

The vaccines were part of the batch of 102,000 that had arrived in the country on March 26, under an AU and WHO initiative. They expired on April 13.

Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda put some of the vials of the expired doses into an incinerator to start the destruction Wednesday at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, the capital.

“We are destroying (these vaccines) because as government policy no expired health commodities are to be used,” she said. “Historically under the expanded immunization program of Malawi no expired vaccine has ever been used.”

READ ALSO

Africa in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: My Vision for an AI-Driven Educational Renaissance

France Hands Over Last Military Base in Ivory Coast

Djibouti’s Mahamoud Youssouf Elected AU Commission Chairman

Liberia: President Suspends Over 450 Officials for Failing to Declare Assets

She said burning the vaccines will build public confidence that all vaccines used in Malawi are good.

“We are destroying publicly in order to stay accountable to Malawians. The vaccines that expired are not being used during the vaccination campaign,” she said. “On behalf of the government, I assure all Malawians that no one will be given an expired COVID vaccine.”

”The burned vaccines were the remainder of 102,000 doses that arrived in Malawi on March 26 with just 18 days until they expired on April 13. All other doses of the shipment, donated by the African Union, were successfully administered, she said.

The health minister thanked WHO, the African Union, and India for donating the vaccines.

“This has made it possible for Malawi to embark on the COVID vaccination campaign currently underway,” she said.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), part of the AU, said in a news conference last month that the shots could be used until July 13, based on a further analysis conducted by manufacturers the Serum Institute of India.

He and the WHO also urged African countries not to waste vaccines donated to them.

However, the Malawian government said it would not give expired vaccines to its citizens.

Chiponda blamed a hesitant uptake of the jabs on ‘propaganda against the AstraZeneca vaccine’ after Austria this week became the third European country to drop AstraZeneca, after Norway and Denmark ditched the vaccine over rare cases of severe blood clots in people receiving the jab.

The calls not to destroy the vaccines came too late for Malawi, ministry of health spokesman Joshua Malango told The Associated Press news agency.

‘We had stopped observation of proper storage mechanisms and the vaccines would have still been damaged in one way or the other,’ he said.

The destruction of the vaccines was witnessed by several top officials ‘in order to enhance transparency,’ health secretary Charles Mwansambo said.

POPULAR TODAY

    • All
    • National
    • Local News
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Sports
    • XTRA

    Plateau attack: Bandits ambush, kill over 70 vigilantes in Kanam LGA

    July 8, 2025
    Bola Tinubu

    Tinubu should focus on reforms, not re-election, says ex-Lagos deputy governor

    July 17, 2025

    Aisha divorced Buhari long before he died – Prof. Farooq Kperogi

    July 17, 2025

    Baba-Ahmed: Why Atiku should shelve his presidential ambition

    July 17, 2025

    Discussion about this post

    ADVERTISEMENT
    NEWS PICKS — WITHIN NIGERIA

    WITHIN NIGERIA MEDIA LTD.

    NEWS, MULTI MEDIA

    WITHIN NIGERIA is an online news media that focuses on authoritative reports, investigations and major headlines that springs from National issues, Politics, Metro, Entertainment; and Articles.

    Follow us on social media:

    CORPORATE LINKS

    • About
    • Contacts
    • Report a story
    • Advertisement
    • Content Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
     
    • Fact-Checking Policy
    • Ethics Policy
    • Corrections Policy
    • REPORT A STORY
    • PRIVACY
    • CONTACT US

    © 2022 WITHIN NIGERIA MEDIA LTD. designed by WebAndName

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    No Result
    View All Result
    • HOME
    • FEATURES
    • NEWS PICKS
      • BREAKING
      • National
      • Local News
      • Politics
      • Diaspora
      • Business
      • Education
      • Sports
      • World News
        • Africa
        • U.S
        • Asia
        • Europe
      • XTRA
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MORE
      • GIST
      • ARTICLES
      • VIDEOS

    © 2022 WITHIN NIGERIA MEDIA LTD. designed by WebAndName