Africa: Coronavirus

(asked on 9th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent wastage of covid-19 vaccines donated to (a) Nigeria, (b) Malawi, (c) South Sudan and (d) other African countries as a result of (i) inadequate time for distribution before expiry dates, (ii) inadequate distribution infrastructure and (iii) other reasons.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 16th December 2021

Avoiding vaccine expiry and wastage is a core UK objective in determining when and where we share or deploy doses. COVAX works with African governments, including Nigeria, Malawi and South Sudan, to monitor equitable distribution, allocation, and delivery of vaccines in line with National Deployment and Vaccination Plans and the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s 'equitable allocation framework'. For all bilateral donations, we have sought assurances from recipients that they have the capacity to roll out the quantity of doses offered in line with their National Deployment and Vaccination Plans and ahead of the vaccine expiry date.

We are working through the governing boards of Gavi and the World Bank to ensure funding available for in-country delivery is approved and disbursed in a timely manner. We are also working with COVAX, technical partners (WHO and UNICEF), bilateral programmes and the UK's diplomatic network to tackle immediate bottlenecks that can be addressed through focused funding, provision of equipment or technical assistance. We are aware of the recent media reports of large volume of expired vaccines in Nigeria. However, I can confirm that no UK-donated doses are among those expired.

Reticulating Splines