Covid-19 in SA | Over 7.6m Pfizer vaccines have expired

JOHANNESBURG - Well, it seems South Africans are no longer getting their Covid-19 jabs.

More than 7.6 million Pfizer vaccines have expired in the country.

At least 3.2 million of those expired in March and over 4 million expired in April.

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Pfizer is set to apply for an extension with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority in June.

"The Pfizer vaccine that we're talking about is an mRNA vaccine and it's the first time that we've used the mRNA vaccine so far," said Mia Malan from the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism.

"So no one really knows for how long it stays stable and can be used.

READ: Pfizer profits drop as it adapts to lower COVID-19 revenues

"So when we hear of expiry dates of Pfizer vaccines, they're not necessarily the end of the shelf life of the vaccine."

Malan said every three months, scientists test the vaccines to see if they're still stable.

"If they are, they are extended for another three months.

"In this case, scientists think they may last for another six months, but at the moment these vaccines are all in quarantine because you can't just voluntarily test the vaccines and extend the expiry dates," she said.