‘ASTRAZENECA PROCUREMENT PLANS STILL ON TRACK’

MBABANE - The procurement of COVID-19 vaccines is still on track and the nation should not panic.

Following the reports that the COVAX facility has suspended the distribution of vaccines from India, a country which is the main distributor of the Oxford AstraZeneca, Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi called upon the nation not to panic, as government would procure the said vaccine in May. Nkosi said this yesterday during a press briefing at Cabinet Offices in Mbabane, while reassuring emaSwati who had received their first jab of the Oxford AstraZeneca that they would receive their second jab in the required time.

Scheduled

The second jab is normally scheduled between six and 12 weeks after being inoculated with the first dose. The minister’s reassurance comes after reports by the international media, including Aljazeera and Global News, that the vaccination process in 60 countries might be stalled because deliveries through the global programme (COVAX), have been halted until the end of June. According to the reports, vaccine shortage stems mostly from India’s decision to stop exporting vaccines from its Serum Institute of India (SII) factory, which produces the majority of Oxford AstraZeneca doses that COVAX counted on to supply around a third of the global population at a time COVID-19 is spiking worldwide.

Motivated

The reports stated that SII’s decision was motivated by India’s spike in COVID-19 cases. Last Sunday, India recorded 168 912 cases and it (India) is currently has the second highest infection rate in the world, following the United States. COVAX is a facility formed of Gavi, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other globally recognised entities, which was formed to supply low and middle-income countries with COVID-19 vaccines, protecting from unfair distribution. Eswatini is among the beneficiaries of COVAX and the country has already benefitted 12 000 Oxford AstraZeneca doses from the facility. Nkosi assured the nation that the country would continue receiving its COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility as scheduled. “Plans by the Ministry of Health for securing the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines by May 2021 and other vaccine candidates to cover the eligible population are still on track,” said Nkosi.

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