More than 90 000 unused Covid-19 Pfizer vaccines that reach their expiration date on Thursday will be disposed of, in line with industry standards.
The Department of Health said in a statement on Tuesday evening that it was obligated to ensure that expired medical products are quarantined and disposed of.
“At the end of this month of March, about 92 370 doses of Pfizer vaccine are due to expire and will be disposed of according to the minimum standard for the disposal and destruction of medicines and scheduled substances,” read the statement.
Since the vaccine rollout began in February 2021, the health department has received 39.2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The Department said the volume due to expire is equivalent to 0.24% of all Pfizer doses received. The World Health Organization (WHO) holds that 10% is an acceptable ratio of vaccine waste.
South Africa’s vaccine rollout currently offers citizens the Pfizer vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The shelf life for the Pfizer vaccine is nine months when stored at - 70ºC. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be stored at -20ºC and has a shelf life of two years.
“Due to the short shelf life of the Pfizer vaccine, all countries are challenged to utilise vaccines before expiry. Every effort is being made to ensure that vaccines are utilised efficiently/optimally, and that wastage is minimised.”
Of the 11.5 million Pfizer vaccines in stock, at the moment, 890 000 doses will expire in May, 5.8 million in June, and 4.8 million are facing expiry by the end of July.
The total number of vaccines administered in the country is 33.5 million. On Tuesday, over 78 000 shots were administered, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Vaccine demand has waned, said the health department, in contrast to the start of the vaccination programme.
Weekly vaccinations in the month of August 2021 ranged from 600 000 to 1.2 million over a period of seven days. Now, weekly vaccinations are between 80 000 to 130 000.
“While the experts anticipate the next wave around winter period, the government working together with various stakeholders continuously explore various vaccine demand creation strategies to increase vaccine uptake,” said the health department.