(FILES) A file photo taken on February 12, 2021 shows a vial containing the Covid-19 vaccine by AstraZeneca and a syringe displayed on a table in the pharmacy of the vaccination center at the Robert Bosch hospital in Stuttgart, southern Germany. - The World Health Organization gave emergency use approval to AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccines on February 15, 2021, allowing distribution to some of the world's poorest countries to begin. "The WHO today listed two versions of the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through Covax," a WHO statement said, referring to the programme aimed at equitable distribution of inoculations. (Photo by THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS KIENZLE/AFP via Getty Images)

Poorer Nations Unable to Use 100 Million Covid Vaccines

On Jan 13, 2022

Poorer nations are being offered vaccines with too short a shelf life for them to be distributed before their expiry date, according to the UN’s children’s fund Unicef.

In December alone, more than 100 million vaccines were rejected by countries unable to distribute them, Unicef’s head of supply, Etleva Kadilli told members of the European Parliament on Thursday.

She said “the problem was compounded by many countries’ insufficient storage facilities.”

Many of the world’s poorest countries, most of them in Africa, have been relying on the UN-backed Covax scheme for their vaccines.

The programme faced challenges in accessing doses early last year, but the situation significantly improved towards the end of 2021 with wealthier countries releasing doses they were holding.

However, many of the doses offered have been close to their expiry date, and have been rejected by the recipient nations.

Some countries such as Nigeria struggled with administering the vaccines forcing them to destroy expired jabs.

Only about 10% of the population on the continent has been fully vaccinated.

BBC /Shakirat Sadiq