Almost 1,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine were thrown into the trash in Kyrgyzstan after the refrigerator that kept them was turned off to charge a phone.
These unusable vaccines were part of a batch of 20,000 doses delivered as humanitarian aid by Russia to this poor country in Central Asia. The vaccination campaign started there in March, with Russian injections being more popular than Chinese Sinopharm’s alternative.
The authorities have been widely criticized following the incident, which was only made public this week but which took place in April in a public clinic in Bishkek, the capital.
A maintenance worker behind the gaff
According to Health Minister Alimkadyr Beïchenaliïev, a maintenance worker could be responsible for the problem, having looked for a socket to recharge his phone. “If any of the employees are to blame, a housekeeper or someone else, the clinic will have to respond financially,” he told reporters.
Kyrgyzstan is currently hit by a third wave of Covid-19 cases, after an already difficult summer which saw hospitals overflow.
This country had more than 100,000 cases and 1,735 deaths for 6.5 million inhabitants on Friday, the authorities having however admitted that these official figures are not representative of the real situation.
According to health authorities, more than 50,000 people have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
The former communist country has also been going through a deep political crisis for several months.
–
