The director of the African Union Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday welcomed donations of covid-19 vaccines to the continent, but warned that "(donor) countries should be mindful of expiration dates".

"If the vaccines arrive with a very short expiration date it will be very difficult to absorb them and (...) we will find ourselves in a very confusing scenario where the narrative can be easily misinterpreted" that the vaccines have not been used, John Nkengasong said at a virtual press conference quoted by Lusa.

In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, pointed out at the same press conference that "some of the donations could have a very short time" before they expire, which would make it very difficult to use them.

According to Nkengasong, donors should aim for a shelf life of three to four months to ensure effective distribution of the medicines to the African nations receiving them.

Although vaccination in Africa still lags far behind the rest of the world - only 1.6% of Africans have received the full vaccination schedule - the head of Africa CDC has confirmed that the first doses purchased by the African Union (AU) will arrive on the continent in the coming days.

The agency signed an agreement last March with Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, for the stockpile of 220 million single-dose vaccines-with the option to add another 180 million in 2022-of which it will receive a first batch of eight million doses in the coming days and larger batches during August, September, and October.

"I can hardly believe that we are talking about delivering these vaccines, when earlier this year we were still discussing the possibility of closing a contract," Nkengasong said with evident satisfaction.

However, the main source of vaccine supplies for the African continent remains the Covax mechanism - pushed by WHO to ensure global and equitable access - which resumed shipments this month after being blocked in late March when India suspended exports to deal with a new deadly wave of the virus.

But the continent is more than 700 million doses away from 30% coverage of its population by the end of 2021, Moeti warned.

COVAX signed agreements mid-month with Chinese manufacturers Sinopharm and Sinovac to distribute 110 million antiviral vaccines worldwide, of which 32.5 million will go to Africa.