Dr. Sylvester Fameye, Senior Medical Officer of Holy Child Catholic Hospital, Fijai has said the expired COVID-19 Vaccine is harmful and has entreated Africa to reject the advice from World Health Organisation to use the expired COVID-19 Vaccine.
This comes at the back of the recent move by Malawi and South Sudan that destroyed more than 70,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccines which expired in mid-April. According to the World Health Organization expired vaccines could be used for up to 36months without any problem.
On the contrary, the Senior Medical Officer said a drug or food is said to expire when the period of preservation is due. He noted that expiry is a convention that applies to all pharmaceuticals and food Industries.
Speaking on Adzekye Mu Nsem on Spice 91.9 FM, Dr Sylvester Fameye called on African countries to reject WHO advice for expired vaccines to be used because they say it is harmless even after 32 months.
“The expired COVID-19 Vaccine is harmful to human lives and that the move by World Health Organization should be rejected”.
He called on African countries to work toward self-sufficiency to reverse the trend of always taken instructions without challenging the authority of certain jurisdictions.
Furthermore, Dr. Sylvester Fameye mentioned the need to do extensive research on the expired COVID-19 vaccines to have more information and come to a conclusion on the matter.
”For example, the President of Uganda recently tasked the Scientist in his country to do a thorough investigation of the COVID-19 vaccine before use”.
Meanwhile, Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) had been assured that the doses were safe to use.
World Health Organization’s Africa Director, Matshidisco Moeti has urged countries to “store the vaccines safely as we continue to study and try to get definite advice on whether the vaccination can be used for longer”
Ghana has become the first country to receive 600,000 doses of An AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India through the UN-backed COVAX scheme on Wednesday 24th February 2021.
The African Union (AU) has been trying to help its 55 member states buy more doses in a push to immunize 60 percent of the continent’s 1.3 billion people over three years.
Written by Kwame Offei
