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Malawi Rejects WHO Call to Use Expired COVID Vaccine

Lameck Masina

   BLANTYRE, MALAWI - Malawi's government says it will go ahead with plans
   to destroy thousands of expired COVID-19 vaccine doses, despite calls
   from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Africa Centre for Disease
   Control not to destroy them.

   The WHO and Africa CDC this week urged African countries not to destroy
   COVID-19 vaccines that may have passed their expiration dates, saying
   they are still safe to use. However, Malawi's government says the
   appeals have come too late to prevent the destruction of thousands of
   doses of expired COVID vaccines.
   Officials said the 16,440 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that expired
   April 13 have already been removed from cold storage.
   Thursday, the WHO and the Africa CDC had urged African countries not to
   destroy the vaccine that may have expired, saying it is still usable.
   "And it's also a requirement that every vile manufactured, has an
   expiry date beyond which it cannot be used," said Dr. Charles
   Mwansambo, Malawi's secretary for health. "In this case, we cannot
   proceed to use these because the vile clearly states the expiry date.
   And any doctor, any physician would not be forgiven in the event of
   anything happening after knowingly used a vile that is clearly having
   labeled as having expired."
   The expired vaccine is part of the 102,000-dose donation the country
   received in March from the African Union.
   Malawi and South Sudan earlier announced plans to destroy about 70,000
   doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that expired last month.
   Mwansambo also said using the expired vaccine would scare people from
   taking the jabs from the remaining stock.
   "If we leave or store these expired vaccines that will be big blow to
   our vaccination drive people will not come. Now even though we are not
   using them people have been hesitant to come because they feel that we
   might be given the expired vaccines," he said.
   Mwansambo said the country may be considering extending the shelf life
   of the remaining stock of vaccine received through the COVAX facility
   and from the Indian government that expires in June and July.
   George Jobe, the executive director for the Malawi Health Equity
   Network, said using the expired COVID-19 vaccine would create a
   negative attitude in people.
   "We can have phobia from Malawians which we should not. If the
   [expired] vaccines are safe, the CDC can take the expired vaccines, or
   WHO, and donate to the developed countries. But we have to witness the
   day the vaccines are leaving Malawi."
   Mwansambo said destroying the expired vaccine is in line with Malawi
   government guidelines on expired pharmaceutical products.
   He said the government will soon announce the date when it will
   publicly destroy the expired vaccine in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe.