Uganda Destroys Expired Virus Shots on Slow Uptake
KAMPALA, UGANDA - SEPTEMBER 29: Patients queue prior to being vaccinated on September 29, 2021 in Kampala, Uganda. The Ugandan Ministry of Health on Monday started its rollout of the Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine after receiving 1.67 million doses of the drug from US Government. Uganda is using the doses as part of an ‘accelerated vaccination campaign against COVID-19’ that started on Monday. They plan to vaccinate 4.8 million people by the end of December (using a mixture of Aztrazeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer) before the planned re-opening of schools in January 2022. Around 1% of the Ugandan population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and the country has seen 3,148 deaths from the disease. (Photo by Luke Dray/Getty Images) Photographer: Luke Dray/Getty Images Europe
, Photographer: Luke Dray/Getty Images Europe
Fred Ojambo, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) --
Uganda will destroy more than 400,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines after they expired following a low uptake in the country’s northern region, the Saturday Monitor newspaper reported.
The vaccines were mainly made by Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc, the Kampala-based newspaper reported, citing Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng. The ministry hasn’t replied to emails on the matter sent by Bloomberg in the past two days.
Africa’s biggest coffee exporter mostly relies on donated Covid-19 shots from countries including the U.S., Canada, Norway, France and China, according to the ministry. The country has recorded more than 157,000 cases of the virus since it was first detected nearly two years ago, and about a tenth of its population of about 43 million has been fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.