E4.4M ASTRAZENECA DOSES EXPIRE TOMORROW, TO BE DESTROYED

SITEKI – Government will destroy 59 000 AstraZeneca Vaccine doses worth approximately E4.4 million, which will expire tomorrow.

According to Ministry of Health Principal Secretary (PS) Dr Simon Zwane, the 59 000 doses of AstraZeneca will expire tomorrow, hence government taken the decision to destroy them.
“We have about 59 000 doses of AstraZeneca Vaccine that will expire on March 31. Each dose cost ranges between US$2.15 and US$5, which averagely equates to E75 per dose,” he said. The PS said the expiring doses were part of the 500 000 doses from AstraZeneca that were sourced from the COVAX Facility. “We have enough Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, hence we encourage the nation to continue vaccinating. We have run out of Johnson and Johnson Vaccine,” he said. Dr Zwane added that about 30 per cent of the population had vaccinated since its inception last year.

The PS further mentioned that government managed to source 400 000 Pfizer doses but only 150 000 were delivered, hence if the need to vaccinate more people arose, government would ensure that the remaining 250 000 doses were secured. Asked on government’s plan in ensuring that there was enough COVID-19 vaccine following the announcement by Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini that the public was now allowed to travel to neighbouring South Africa provided they produced a vaccination certificate, Dr Zwane made it  clear that the country still had enough doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca to accommodate more people who had still not yet been inoculated. He further urged the nation to visit health facilities and vaccinate as well as get booster shots to ensure that they were allowed entry and exit at the country’s ports of entry.

Vaccinated

The PS said government was working tirelessly to proportionally increase the figures of those who had vaccinated. Moreover, Dr Zwane said due to the relaxation of the COVID-19 restriction measures, there was a need for everyone to inoculate and continue to practise the COVID-19 regulations to safeguard against a spike in variants that might be perpetuated by the latest developments. He further highlighted that unvaccinated under 12-year-old children would be allowed to travel with their parents for now unless there was a change. “Children under 12 years old are excluded in the stipulated requirements at ports of entry for now, unless there are changes that will be announced at a later stage. We encourage people to continue vaccinating because we currently have enough vaccine in our storage facilities,” the PS said.

When further asked to shed light on the complaints from members of the public that they were turned back at health facilities after being told that the Pfitzer Vaccine was unavailable, the PS said he was yet to conduct his own investigation on the matter. He emphasised that the country had enough vaccines and would secure the remaining procured Pfizer doses if the need arose. “I am confident that we still have enough vaccines besides the doses that will be destroyed. At first, we received 500 000 doses from AstraZeneca and it was delivered in phases, hence their expiry dates are not the same. We still have enough doses and I would encourage people to visit their nearest healthcare facilities to vaccinate,” he emphasised. Adding, Dr Zwane said the virus was still circulating among people, hence it was imperative that everyone exercised caution in outdoor and indoor events.

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