VACCINE DOSES EXPECTED TODAY

MBABANE - The long wait for the second batch of COVID-19 vaccine is over as the country is expecting delivery today.

The kingdom will receive 14 400 more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX Facility dose sharing mechanism. The doses will be received by Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, this morning at the King Mswati III International Airport. The minister said these doses will be used to provide second doses for all the healthcare workers who received their first doses and were now due to receive their second doses. “Our surveillance data indicates that there are about 9 400 healthcare workers who received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine,” said the minister in a statement released last night.

Opportunity

Nkosi said an opportunity will also be given to those healthcare workers who had opted out of the vaccine during the first phase but would now like to receive their first dose of the vaccine. The minister said a vaccination schedule was being prepared by the ministry for the healthcare workers who were due to receive their second dose and will be communicated with the healthcare workers through the short-message system (SMSes) using their contact numbers they provided during registration. She said those who would like to receive their first dose were encouraged to register to enable the ministry to quantify the doses that will be required for their vaccination. The minister added that the remaining doses will then be prioritised to the members of the public who are due to receive their second doses. She said the ministry will be continuing to work on bringing the 500 000 doses from AstraZeneca.

Received

The kingdom last received vaccine doses in March and the total number of doses received was 32 000. A sum of 12 000 doses were received from the COVAX Facility, while the 24 000 doses were donated by the Republic of India.  As of Monday, June 7, 35 227 people had received their first jabs. The vaccination campaign was launched by the Acting Prime Minister, Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku, on March 24, in the presence of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, European Union Ambassador, United States of America Ambassador and other officials. Masuku assured the nation that the vaccines that government was providing were safe.  Currently the country has recorded over 18 000 cumulative cases and 17 906 people have recuperated from the virus as of June 7.

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