Uganda to destroy 400,000 Covid 19 vaccines

Uganda is set to destroy 400,000 doses of covid 19 vaccines which were meant to be utilized in a mass vaccination exercise in Acholi sub-region.

The government had secured over 500,000 doses of Moderna vaccines to be used In November last year with the aim of meeting its target of vaccinating 22 million Ugandans above age 18.

Less than half of this target has so far been met.

Unfortunately, only 100,000 doses of the vaccine were utilised leaving, 400,000 doses to go to waste, Health Minister, Jane Ruth Aceng said.

Local media reports 279 doses of the unused vaccines were Astrazeneca which had expired.

“Moderna is ultra-frozen it has to be thawed. Before use, when it was unutilized in Acholi we took it to western Uganda but couldn’t utilise it before 30 days,” she said.

The health minister attributed the low rate of vaccination to myths and misconceptions about the effects of vaccines.

To boost vaccine storage, the government has received cold chain equipment worth $ 8.3 million to be dispatched for vaccine storage.

In December 2021, Nigeria destroyed over a million expired doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The expired doses were destroyed at a landfill in Nigeria capital Abuja, a week after the country had announced it will no longer accept donated vaccines with short shelf lives.