Malawi races against time to administer Covid-19 vaccine before expiry

At least 40,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses are set to expire on April 13.

RUSTENBURG, April 12 (ANA) – Malawi is racing against the clock to administer about 40,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine that are set to expire on Tuesday, local media reported.

Daily newspaper The Nation reported on Friday that the south-eastern African country has scaled up the vaccine administration in order to beat the expiry date of April 13.

The expiring doses were part of the 102,000 doses received from the African Union (AU).

Health spokesperson Joshua Malango told the publication that the ministry has since increased Covid-19 vaccination centres to reach out to many Malawians and ensure that the 40,000 doses were used before the expiry date.

Malango said they were confident they would finish the remaining doses because they have beefed up teams to conduct the vaccination in various centres.

Some were even going to workplaces and places of worship for vaccination. The vaccine is open to everyone now that the country is on phase three of the roll-out.

He said that of the current stock of vaccine available in Malawi, those with the longest lifespan will expire in July this year.

Health experts told the publication that they were worried about the low vaccine uptake, fearing more doses may expire if people continue to stay away from vaccination.

The National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives said vaccination should be mandatory.

The Society of Medical Doctors in Malawi said the vaccine was safe although there were people with misconceptions about it.

Malawi aims to vaccinate about 11 million people, representing 60% of its population.

In a statement on Sunday, Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said, cumulatively, 209, 353 doses have been administered in the country, with 4,995 being administered in the past 24 hours.

She warned that the country was still experiencing community transmission of Covid-19.

Malawi has registered 22 new Covid-19 cases, 119 new recoveries and one new death as of April 11.

Twenty-one were locally transmitted and one was an imported case that was identified at the Mwanza border. The death was registered in the Salima District.

Malawi has so far recorded 33,827 Covid-19 infection cases, 1,128 deaths and 31,479 recoveries.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher