African health officials concerned that COVID-19 vaccines may expire

With millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses making their way to the African continent in the coming weeks, public health officials say they are worried about fast-approaching expiration dates, which could place governments under pressure to administer shots before time runs out.

“We are particularly concerned that some of the donations may have very short timelines in terms of expiry dates,” said Matshidiso Moeti, Africa regional director at the World Health Organization, during a press conference Thursday.

John Nkengasong, director at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said countries are being urged to donate vaccines with at least a three- to four-month shelf life. The Telegraph reported that the bulk of doses that the United Kingdom is now sending to lower-income countries will expire in September.

Why this matters: Some African nations faced challenges in rolling out doses in a timely manner due to shipment delays and financing issues. Because of these difficulties, 450,000 doses have gone to waste on the continent.

Recognizing their own constraints, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan returned doses to the international COVAX initiative so that other countries could use them prior to their expiration dates.

“That [redistribution], frankly, spends more time and energy which could be used in a rollout of the vaccines,” Moeti said.

The coming months: Following several months in which limited supplies made their way to African countries, COVAX has allocated 60 million doses to 49 African countries to be shipped between now and September, Moeti said. This comes after wealthy nations, which have vaccinated substantial amounts of their populations, began donating doses on a broader scale.