The Federal Ministry of Health on Wednesday said that some of the COVID-19 vaccine doses which were given by donors had residual shelf lives.

The ministry made this clarification following a report published by Reuters, which stated that over one million doses of the coronavirus vaccines in Nigeria were expired last month.

The health ministry in a statement signed by the minister in charge, Osagie Ehanire, explained that the vaccines which were received in form of donations through COVAX and AVATT facility had residual shelf lives leaving Nigeria with a limited period to facilitate distribution and usage.

The ministry in it’s statement also stated that the dilemma is not typical to Nigeria, but a situation in which many low- and medium-income countries find themselves.

The statement read in part, “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Health has been drawn to reports circulating in the media to the effect that some COVID-19 vaccines had expired in Nigeria.