Francesco Guarascio & Jennifer Rigby

BRUSSELS/LONDON – According to documents and official statements from AstraZeneca Plc, the COVID-19 vaccination’s shelf-life is relatively short. This could make it difficult to roll out the treatment to the countries most in need.

This is just the latest problem to befall the COVAX vaccination-sharing project co-led jointly by the WHO. It aims to get shots to the most vulnerable people in the world.

In the beginning, COVAX and poorer countries were less successful in procuring vaccine supplies than COVAX. Wealthier countries used their financial resources to purchase first doses.

As vaccine production ramped up and richer states began donating excess doses, some countries – particularly in Africa – are now struggling to administer the big shipments.

Due to the need to reject vaccines that have short shelf life, as well as initial inequalities, hesitancy, and other obstacles, there is a lower rate of vaccination in Africa. Only 10% of Africans are immunized, while more than 70% live in wealther countries.

Many vaccines have arrived with weeks to spare before their expiration dates, which is increasing the pressure to secure shots in armies. Some countries had to throw out expired vaccines. Nigeria was one of these, having disposed off over 1 million AstraZeneca vaccinations last November.

According to COVAX data, officials and AstraZeneca representatives, the problem of a shorter shelf life is primarily AstraZeneca’s.

Reuters reviewed an internal WHO document that detailed vaccine stock levels in many central and western African countries during the week ended February 6, which highlighted the issue.

The majority of AstraZeneca dosages for the listed African countries had expired, while only a few other countries have expired AstraZeneca dosing. Of the total expired doses declared by those countries in the week, about 1.3 million were AstraZeneca, 280,000 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:), 15,000 Moderna This document documents that there is a NASDAQ: and 13,000 Russia Sputnik.

Numerous vaccines will likely be rejected, as COVAX and African nations have stated that they won’t accept vaccines with a shelf-life less than two-and a half months starting January.

Benin was given 80,400 AstraZeneca dosages by COVAX in January 30, which will expire February 28. Also, it received 100,000 doses from Russia of the Sputnik Light vaccination. However, this was outside the COVAX Initiative. According to the document, vaccines made by other companies had a longer shelf life.

African countries believe that the shelf life of the shot should be at least two-and-a-half months.

AstraZeneca was COVAX’s 2nd-largest supplier. Pfizer (NYSE) said that over 250 million shots were left in factories within two-and-a–half months of expiry since the global rollout.

A country that has the infrastructure and expertise to handle short shelf lives is unlikely to have any problems. Without systems, however, this can prove difficult to overcome.

Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca spokesmen said that vaccines have to be subject to rigorous quality controls and noted the importance of the company in aiding poorer countries with vaccination drives. COVAX distributed more AstraZeneca vaccinations than any other method, thanks to the generous donations of rich countries.

The spokesperson stated that 2.6 Billion vaccine doses were distributed by AstraZeneca worldwide, with approximately half of these going to low- and middle-income nations.

The spokesperson stated that nearly nine of ten doses of medication released by our factories are available for donation. This is consistent with our supply chain.

CLOCK TICKING

While the volumes of vaccines delivered far outnumber those that are not used, the loss has been significant due to time constraints. AstraZeneca shots have been rescinded before they are shipped.

Only the donated doses of vaccines are taken into consideration. Nearly half of all the vaccines distributed through COVAX last year were used by COVAX. According to Gavi (a non-profit that runs COVAX along with the WHO), about 30,000,000 AstraZeneca shots went unreturned or delayed by these countries. It is a quarter-of AstraZeneca’s COVAX donated shots.

Gavi stated that some were later transferred to countries other than the United States, noting more than 95% AstraZeneca employees. The location was not indicated.

According to a document within the EU reviewed by Reuters and not yet distributed, million-plus doses of AstraZeneca, COVAX’s largest donor, are still in storage.

The vaccine has a shelf life of six months after bottling. This is shorter than any of COVAX’s leading suppliers. Several COVAX officials and EU officials spoke to Reuters.

Additionally, quality inspections can take up to months.

COVAX’s intricate system for allocating doses among countries and donor requests to distribute them to specific nations can further reduce the vaccine’s lifespan, which sometimes lasts only a few more weeks.

Each vaccine maker conducts quality control, however COVAX’s top suppliers have less trouble. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines last two years when frozen, Pfizer’s last nine months and Moderna’s seven months, according to storage instructions approved by the WHO.

Many million of Moderna and Pfizer vaccinations could be lost, warn some African countries. This problem was usually caused by low vaccination uptake or insufficient cold chain equipment to deliver these shots to remote locations.

EXTENDING YOUR SHELF LIFE

Gavi stated that it encouraged AstraZeneca, to request an extension to its expiration date from the WHO. However, talks haven’t led to any formal applications. AstraZeneca claimed that this process is complicated due to the large network of global companies producing its vaccine.

After initially being approved for only six months, WHO has granted approval to the Serum Institute in India as a production partner. However, other AstraZeneca batches in the rest world only have six.

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca stated that they are in talks with the World Health Organisation. However, this complex task requires data from our entire global manufacturing network.

The WHO spokeswoman did not respond to the discussions.

Gavi cited figures that were available as late January and stated that African countries used on average two-thirds of the received doses. However, this drops to 15% in Burundi, and 11% in Congo.

Gavi reported that there was a 0.3% wastage in the final doses by December. Gavi declined to provide more details, but stated that the rate would rise.