Coronavirus: PNG races to use donated jabs before they expire

PNG faces the prospect of having to throw out tens of thousands of donated Covid jabs with half their shelf life already gone.

The first 130,000 doses of the Covid vaccine under the COVAX alliance arriving in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea faces the prospect of having to throw out tens of thousands of Covid jabs delivered to the country by the World Health Organisation, with half their shelf life already gone.

PNG Health Minister Jelta Wong said the country was scrambling to get nearly 100,000 vaccines into people’s arms within four to six weeks, before the vials expired.

“It would be good if they could work on a program where we could get it when it is manufactured, straight away into PNG, so we have that longer time,” Mr Wong said.

The WHO-backed COVAX facility provided 132,000 AstraZeneca doses to PNG in mid-April after heavy lobbying by Australia, which has invested $203m in the multinational vaccination effort.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has a six-month shelf life after it is manufactured but the shipment’s vials had expiry dates of July 18 and July 29, leaving PNG with just over three months to get it into people’s arms.

Mr Wong said about 34,000 doses from the shipment had been used, and PNG was moving to deliver second doses to those who had received initial jabs.

“It is just trying to convince people to take the vaccine. That’s our biggest problem at the moment,” he said. “Slowly, slowly we are getting people there.”

The vaccines were manufactured in India, which is in the midst of its own Covid crisis.

Mr Wong said the government was working to improve vaccine awareness with the help of partners, including Australia.

Mobile clinics were under consideration to roll out the jabs in the provinces, after the success of a vaccination bus in the capital, Port Moresby.

Burnet Institute director Brendan Crabb said supplying vaccines to developing countries was only part of the battle.

“We need to equally emphasise delivery and acceptability, as we do the actual vaccine,” Professor Crabb said.

“You can’t do anything without the actual vaccine, but what’s the point if it’s out of date and gets thrown out?

“I’m a huge supporter of COVAX, but it doesn’t provide all the answers in terms of getting those vaccines safely into people’s arms.”

In March, Scott Morrison urged the EU president to give one million EU-made vaccine jabs ordered by Australia to PNG, but the Australian government hasn’t pressed the matter, amid growing evidence PNG cannot administer the vaccines it already has access to.

PNG has recorded 16,727 positive Covid cases and 165 deaths, but that number is believed to dramatically understate the true extent of coronavirus infections in the country.

As of June 10, 40,736 Papua New Guineans had been vaccinated against the virus, including 6482 health workers.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said Australia was working with the PNG government on its vaccine rollout in Port Moresby and the provinces. “We are supporting PNG’s national vaccine plan to ensure a safe and effective rollout,” she said.

Australia has also supported PNG’s national vaccine rollout through the direct delivery of 18,480 AstraZeneca doses.