A number of developing nations have refused tens of millions of doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines, according to a report from Reuters.
The countries had received doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX initiative, a global project that focuses on ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
COVAX has distributed 1.4 billion shots to 144 nations to date.
Some countries that COVAX serves indicated a preference for vaccines with a longer shelf life than AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Last week, COVAX and the African Union also declined to order vaccine doses from Moderna, according to Reuters.
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaxzevria has a shelf life of six months, but doses are sometimes delivered weeks before the expiration date, Reuters reported.
In related news, Japan recently canceled a purchase of 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to The Japan Times.
The country has expressed a preference for mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
AstraZeneca was initially a central provider of COVID-19 vaccines.
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