Kenya Says 840,000 Donated COVID-19 Jabs Expired; Cites Vaccine Hesitancy

Kenya announced on Wednesday that roughly 840,000 COVID-19 jabs received through donations expired, blaming vaccine hesitancy and a short self-life.

The AstraZeneca doses arrived in Kenya through the global Covax vaccine equity initiative, according to the health ministry.

“Any expired dose represents a missed opportunity to save a life,” the ministry said.

I’ll be the first to comment that Kenyans who rejected these experimental injections are smarter than the health ministry and many western nation civilians.

Our World in Data reports 15% of Kenya’s population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and nearly 22% with at least one dose.

COVID-19 jab uptake has significantly slowed in Kenya, indicating a likelihood of additional doses going into the dumpster (where they belong).

Another 1 Million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines will expire by 15th April if they're not used by then. #SABCNews

— Sarah Kimani (@sarahkimani) March 23, 2022

To stem wastage Kenya will only accept vaccine donations with a shelf life of at least 4 months at the time of delivery. #SABCNews

— Sarah Kimani (@sarahkimani) March 23, 2022

More than 840,000 coronavirus vaccine shots donated to Kenya have expired https://t.co/GDgN4SI3AB

— TODAY (@todayng) March 24, 2022

Yahoo News reported:

About 30 percent of the target population in Kenya has been vaccinated against the coronavirus but uptake has slowed considerably in recent weeks as prevalence of the disease has tapered off.

Early last month, some 252,000 vaccines were being administered per day across the country but that figure has plunged to as low as 30,000.

The ministry said uptake of the second jab had dropped sharply while some Kenyans were refusing certain vaccines — particularly AstraZeneca.

“We continue to witness vaccine hesitancy attributed to rumours and misinformation especially around fertility concerns,” the ministry said.

But it also noted the expired vaccines had arrived in January but perished on February 28, leaving little time to reach arms.

“Henceforth, Kenya will only accept donation of vaccines whose shelf-life is at least four months at the time of delivery,” the ministry said.

Kenya isn’t the only nation to toss expired COVID-19 injections into the trash.

Several months ago, Nigeria destroyed 1 million expired AstraZeneca doses.

WATCH: Nigeria Destroys 1 Million Expired Donated COVID-19 Injections

The United States also tossed millions of COVID-19 jab doses in the dumpster.

Millions of COVID-19 Jab Doses Trashed in the United States