More than 90 000 unused Covid-19 Pfizer vaccines that reach their expiration date on Thursday will be disposed of, in line with industry standards.

The Department of Health said in a statement on Tuesday evening that it was obligated to ensure that expired medical products are quarantined and disposed of.

The statement read that at the end of this month of March, about 92 370 doses of Pfizer vaccine are due to expire and will be disposed of according to the minimum standard for the disposal and destruction of medicines and scheduled substances.

Of the 11.5 million Pfizer vaccines in stock, at the moment, 890 000 doses will expire in May, 5.8 million in June, and 4.8 million are facing expiry by the end of July.

Part of the reason for this is because the vaccine demand has waned.