STILL NO DATE FOR VACCINE DELIVERY

MBABANE- Government still has no tentative date on when the country would receive its next batch of vaccines.

Initially, government, through the Ministry of Health, had stated that more vaccines were expected before the end of the current month. According to Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi, this has not changed, though the actual date of when the vaccines would arrive in the country was still unknown. The minister was speaking yesterday morning on national radio during the breakfast show, Letishisako. Her update comes after reports of increasing cases of COVID-19 within Southern Africa and of particular concern is the India variant which is believed to be highly infectious. In response to the above concerns, Nkosi urged the nation not to panic as reality had shown that the new variant was not severe in other countries. Nkosi made an example of Kenya, where she said cases of the new variant had dropped drastically. Asked about the kingdom’s preparedness in fighting the new variant, Nkosi stated that at the present moment, the country had more spaces in health facilities following the decline of severe COVID-19 cases.

Admission

She made an example the of the Lubombo Referral Hospital in Siteki and the Mavuso Quarantine Centre in Manzini, where she said there were many spaces available for admission. She also stated that there was enough oxygen in case patients needed assistance. “Our oxygen is in abundance since we have manufacturing companies locally. Oxygen can be offered for even mild cases in order to prevent deaths. Other health facilities have offered to provide oxygen as and when the need arises,” she said. The minister also touched on the issue of vaccines. She mentioned that the country anticipated different brands of vaccines, some which might be delivered before the end of this month. She stated that refrigerators that could store about 10 million doses were already put in place. However, Nkosi acknowledged the delay on the vaccine deliveries. She mentioned that there were many factors leading to the delay.

Policies

“Some of the countries that produce the vaccines have policies which provide that a certain number of people should be vaccinated before the vaccines could be taken to other countries, hence the delay,” she said.
On the issue of the delayed second doses, the minister said there was no need to panic since there was still time for the second jab.

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