Nigeria destroys over 1 million COVID-19 vaccine
On Wednesday, December 22, 2021, One million, sixty-six
thousand, two hundred and fourteen (1,066,214) doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were destroyed by the
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC). The
National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The
vaccines were destroyed because they got expired in November and they are part
of the 2,594,100, doses of vaccines received on the 11th and 29th
of October 2021.
According
to the report, five hundred and twenty-seven thousand, Eight hundred and Eighty-six
(1,527,886) of the vaccines were utilized.
According to a channels Tv report, the
vaccines were destroyed at the Gosa Dumping Site about 2Km away from Idu
Railway Station in Abuja the Nations's capital.
Prof, Mojisola Adeyeye the director-general of NAFDAC in a
statement said that the decision to destroy the vaccines followed several
testing processes that were conducted. Hence the vaccines have to be destroyed
to protect Nigerians from being harmed.
On her part, the Executive Secretary of
NPHCDA Dr.
Faisal Shuaib said the vaccines came with a short life span some with as shorts
as two weeks before expiration.
The Executive secretary of the NPHCDA said
that while Nigeria appreciates the goodwill of the donors, it is not in the
best interest of the country that Vaccines with a short life span are sent to
it
In the same vein, Dr. Faisal also announced
that only about 10 million Nigerians have been vaccinated against COVID-19. He
is also very optimistic that Nigeria will be able to meet its target of
vaccinating 110 million Nigerians.
