Dr. Patrick Kuma Aboagye, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), reported that only a limited amount of COVID-19 vaccine doses had to be discarded due to their inability to be used before their expiration date.
He clarified that a significant factor in this was the GHS’s short time to immunize Ghanaians until the doses expired.
Citi News announced last week that several vials of the COVID-19 vaccine had been thrown away in the Northern Region, at a time when many Ghanaians are still waiting for their first injection.
However, in response to media reports, Dr. Kuma Aboagye stated that although it was disappointing that certain doses were lost owing to the short time available, the health personnel performed admirably during the vaccination exercise.
“The fact is that the most recent shipment of vaccinations issued have an expiration date of April 13th. But for the 480 doses that could not be used in the Northern Area and the 100 doses that could not be used in the Oti Region, both regions were able to do it. Thus, when considering wastage, the figures are not as high. When you consider the time span that we provided, it had an impact on the EPI initiative, notwithstanding the fact that health workers attempted vaccination,” he said.
The Northern Regional Health Directorate announced that approximately 480 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were wasted due to the directorate’s failure to eliminate its vaccine stock by Tuesday, April 13, 2021.
The Directorate stated that the decision to halt the exercise was made as a precautionary step on the recommendation of the Food and Drugs Authority, as the region’s existing supply of AstraZeneca vaccines is due to expire on Friday, April 16.
In an interview with Citi News, Director of Public Health Hilarious Abiwu clarified that the AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured on October 16, 2020, were intended to be used within six months, during which they will lose their efficacy.
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“This batch of vaccines was produced on 16 October 2020, and the FDA has given us six months to use it. Thus, the sixth month will begin on the 16th [of April], and the FDA expected that we could not vaccinate before the very last day for safety purposes. Thus, we had three straightforward days remaining before the six-month anniversary,” he said.
On March 26, 2021, the Northern Region launched its COVID-19 vaccine campaign, targeting about 17,000 health employees.
The exercise, which was originally scheduled to last five days, was prolonged due to logistical difficulties and a poor attendance of health care professionals.
By the end of the seventh day, 30.1 percent of health staff in the district had received the vaccination, according to the provincial health directorate.
Later, the area got an extra 10,000 doses of the vaccine, which was then expanded to priority categories such as military forces, UN agencies, churches, and some government departments.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
