Have the 59,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines donated by AU and MTN to S. Sudan expired before use? YES.

Author: Emmanuel Bida

Days ago, a South Sudanese journalist tweeted that a government official has told Reuters it would not use the 59,000 vaccines it had received last month as a donation from MTN and the African Union because they expired on April 13^th this year.

Below is the tweet.

Original Tweet 

(https://twitter.com/DenisDumo/status/1382772282129592323?s=19)

Article by Reuters 

(https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/africa-cdc-says-cannot-predict-when-second-covid-19-shots-will-arrive-2021-04-15/)

The tweet and article which did not have sufficient details, raising the ears of the public with many questions remaining unanswered.

Dr. Atem Riak Anyoun, Director General for Primary Healthcare at the Ministry of Health who also oversees vaccine deployment across the country confirmed to 211 Check on Friday afternoon that indeed the 59,283 doses of the vaccines donated by the African Union and MTN on Monday, 29^th March 2021 expired on 13th April 2021 and will not be used.

“The vaccines from MTN have expired on the 13^th of April. We are not using any expired vaccines at all. When a vaccine expires, it will not be used and that is it,” Atem briefly said.

“The COVAX vaccine is still valid and it will expire in July so this is the one we are using. I want to assure the public that the vaccine we are giving them is a vaccine that is not expired and so there should be no fear of any expired vaccine being used because the one from the African Union, we are not using,” Atem Riak clarified.

However, it should be noted that the 211 Check team could not immediately see the expired vaccines.

South Sudan’s COVID-19 vaccination drive kicked off on 6^th April with health workers getting their first dose of the Astra Zeneca vaccine at Juba Teaching Hospital. The first person in the country to be vaccinated against the virus was Health Minister Elizabeth Achuei.

In the coming weeks and months, all frontline health workers in South Sudan will be offered the vaccine, through a national vaccination campaign. Subsequently, people with co-morbidities and people above 65 years of age will also be offered the vaccine.

South Sudan received 132,000 doses of the Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility on Thursday, 25 March 2021.

The country aims at vaccinating 40 percent of its population against COVID-19. The COVAX facility has committed to providing half of the required doses meaning 732,000 doses in total. Therefore, the vaccination must be done in phases as the vaccines arrive according to the World Health Organisation.

A person being vaccinated with the Astra Zeneca vaccine requires two doses to ensure optimal immune response against the COVID-19 virus. The COVID-19 vaccination in South Sudan will be provided on a voluntary basis and free of charge.  All people receiving the vaccine will be asked to consent prior to being vaccinated.

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