Exclusive-Up to 1 million COVID vaccines wasted in Nigeria last month

FILE PHOTO: A vial with the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is seen at the National hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

DAKAR (Reuters) - Up to one million COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have expired in Nigeria last month without being used, two sources told Reuters, one of the biggest single losses of doses that shows the difficulty African nations have getting shots in arms.

Governments on the continent of over one billion people have been pushing for more vaccine deliveries as inoculation rates lag richer regions, increasing the risk of new variants such as the Omicron coronavirus now spreading across South Africa.