Malawi Rejects WHO Call to Use Expired Covid-19 Vaccine

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-19 vaccines. Officials said the 16,440 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that expired April 13 have already been removed from cold storage. Meanwhile South Sudan health officials have stopped administering 60,000 doses of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine that are past the expiration date but still have a shelf life of at least six months, according to the drugmaker and the WHO.