Health Minister Joe Phaahla has confirmed that 27m doses of unused J&J and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines, worth R3.8bn, have been destroyed, as will thousands more that are yet to expire.
He said this amounted to 39% of all doses that were acquired and “includes both donated and purchased doses”, reports IOL.
The R3.8b, he added, includes Janssen vaccines to the value of R2 501 583 564 and R 1 328 606 043 of the Pfizer vaccines.
Phaahla said 70 573 820 doses were acquired either as a donation or purchased in line with the bilateral agreement: 453 600 Johnson & Johnson doses were donations and 30 848 000 doses were purchased.
A total of 7 877 610 Pfizer vaccine doses were received as donations and 31m doses bought.
A further 76 800 doses of the paediatric Pfizer vaccine were received as a donation.
Phaahla said there was no possibility of any further extension of shelf life of the vaccines from manufacturers and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, and that Covid vaccination had been integrated into routine health services.
Various strategies, including vaccinating hard to reach communities through outreach services, had also been been implemented to increase uptake of the jab, he added.
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Millions of unused, expired COVID vaccines to be destroyed, says Phaahla
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