The Ugandan government will destroy over 400,000 doses of expired Covid-19 vaccines at a time when less than half of the targeted 22 million people have been vaccinated, reported CGTN Africa.
Ugandan Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said the vaccine doses, which were supplied to the northern part of the country, remained unused and has expired. She added that the expired doses are mainly Moderna and a few doses of AstraZeneca.
Notably, a few weeks ago, Health State Minister Margaret Muhanga had said the government was working on vaccination campaigns across the country, especially in northern Uganda where the vaccination uptake was low. She said the low uptake of the vaccine had affected the fight against the virus.
In recent days, Uganda has reported a decline in its new daily COVID-19 infections. On Wednesday, the country’s health ministry registered 670 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country’s total number of cases to 156,046. The latest data also showed nine new deaths, taking the total virus-related fatalities to 3,370.
The Ugandan government has rolled out a nationwide vaccination exercise in an effort to contain the further spread of the virus. By Wednesday, the total number of vaccine doses administered stood at 12,220,106. The country has also allowed booster jabs for elderly persons.
On Monday, the Ugandan government also reopened schools after a gap of nearly two years. Some 15 million pupils have not attended school in Uganda since March 2020 when classrooms were made to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Education Minister John Muyingo said all students would resume classes a year above where they left off. He assured that all schools have implemented guidelines and standard operating procedures to ensure the safe return of children to schools.
Some 15.5 million students had their education disrupted when the closure went into effect due to the pandemic.
