Photo Anadolu Agency

The South Sudanese government on Friday confirmed that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by the African Union has expired before being used.

The Manager for Expanded Program on Immunization in the Ministry of Health, George Auzenio Legge, told Anadolu Agency by phone in the South Sudanese capital Juba on Friday: “The vaccine expired on April 13 and we are not going to use it.”

The African Union, in collaboration with the MTN Group (a mobile telecommunication company), had donated 59,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to South Sudan.

The East African country received 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX facility on March 25, 2021.

South Sudan launched its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in the capital Juba on April 6 and about 947 health workers received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

South Sudan has so far reported 10,432 infections and 114 deaths. - Benjamin Takpiny, Anadolu Agency