Dr. Nazla: Expired vaccines will not be administered; Pfizer’s shelf life extended

Health Protection Agency’s (HPA) Spokesperson Dr. Fathimath Nazla Rafeeq has stated that expired Covid vaccines will not be administered – adding that the shelf life of Pfizer vaccine has been extended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr. Nazla said this in response to a question posed by a journalist – inquiring whether expired vaccines were being administered subsequent to receiving information that expired vaccines were being administered in the atolls.

On this note, Dr. Nazla stressed that expired vaccines will not be used. She also noted that WHO has informed that the shelf life of Pfizer vaccine has been extended by additional three months.

A guidance has been publicized by WHO, on declaring the expiration dates of vaccines.

Subsequently, Health Ministry’s Quality Assurance Commissioner Thasleema Usman told Sun that Maldives Food and Drug Authority was probing the matter.

“WHO first said that the vaccines can be used for six months – but they have recently said that this window can be extended by three months for the vaccines to be used without expiration,” she had said.