Some 15,000 Botswana residents who were due for the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine find themselves having to wait for more than the anticipated 12 weeks following an announcement by the Ministry of Health that there is shortage of the vaccine.
The government said they were expecting an AstraZeneca consignment procured through the Covax facility by end of June, 2021. However, due to extremely high demand for vaccine around the world which has outstripped supply, Botswana finds itself having to wait longer for the vaccine, leaving those who have already taken the first dose in limbo.
Now the Ministry is already considering other vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna to administer as second shots for those already vaccinated with AstraZeneca. But the two vaccines are however not readily available either.
Mixing of vaccines however does not seem to sit well with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Chief scientist for WHO Soumya Swaminathan was quoted this week warning against mixing and matching different Covid-19 vaccines.
“It’s a little bit of a dangerous trend but it will be a chaotic situation in countries if citizens start … taking a second, a third and a fourth dose,” she said.
Addressing nation this week President Mokgweetsi Masisi lamented the shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. “The global shortage of vaccines is making it difficult for African countries, including Botswana, to vaccinate their populations. It has become even more challenging for some of our fellow African countries to follow up on the second vaccination of their people,” he told the nation on Tuesday.
He said at the time Botswana had recorded 80 154 positive cases, with 8 970 active cases. At least 1,253 people had already lost their lives to the pandemic by July 12, 2021, an increase of over 900 deaths from the 300 recorded in February early this year.
“The situation of the pandemic will worsen before it gets better. Therefore we must take individual and collective responsibility to protect ourselves and the entire nation from COVID-19. We must brace ourselves for the imminent shortage of basic necessities, such as food and fuel, occasioned by disruptions of the supply chain in the region emanating from COVID-19 and its associated impact on the economy,” Masisi said.
“Our national principle of Self-reliance has become more urgent than ever before. I want to implore you Batswana, to rise to the occasion and enhance food security in Botswana. People with underlying medical conditions, such as, diabetes, hypertension and cancer are more at risk, and those most affected by these conditions are the elderly. To this extent, eighty percent (80 %) of those who have lost their lives in this country are over 50 years.”
He said as a consequence the national vaccine roll out plan prioritizes these groups. Front-liners are also in the priority list of the vaccination strategy.
“Let me reiterate my Government’s unwavering commitment to roll-out a successful and timely vaccination programme against COVID-19 that will eventually cover all the people of Botswana, as set out in the Reset Agenda which I recently announced.” By the time of going to press 173, 512 residents had received their second dose of vaccine while 111, 164 people were fully vaccinated. President Masisi said the government were expecting to receive 50, 000 Mordena Vaccines and at least 500, 000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines by December this year. “Our plan is to have vaccinated every eligible Motswana by the end of 2022.”
