At least one million, sixty-six thousand, two hundred and fourteen (1,066,214) doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been destroyed by the Nigerian government.
The vaccine were destroyed on Wednesday, December 22, by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) alongside the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The destroyed vaccines which got expired in November, are part of the 2,594,100 doses of vaccines received on the 11th and 29th October of 2021.
Channels Television reported that the vaccine were destroyed at the Gosa Dumping site, about 2Km away from Idu Railway Station in Abuja.
Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said the decision to destroy the vaccine followed several testing processes that were conducted. She added that it was necessary to protect Nigerians from being harmed.
Executive Secretary of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib on his own part said the vaccines came with a short life span, some as short as 2 weeks to expiration.
Describing the situation as unfortunate, Faisal further stated that while Nigeria appreciates the gesture of the donors, it was not in the interest of the country that vaccines with a short lifespan are sent to it.
Dr. Faisal also announced that only about 10 million Nigerians have been vaccinated against COVID-19. He also expressed optimism that Nigeria will be able to meet its target of vaccinating 110 million Nigerians.
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