COVAX rollout soon
The Ministry of Health and Wellness says the rollout of COVAX Facility will be as soon as the COVID-19 vaccines are ready for market and made available while a distribution system is put in place for the purpose.
Permanent Secretary, Kabelo Ebineng said Botswana has, working with over 150 other countries, participated in the COVAX Facility, and complied with all the provisions of the agreements/commitments pledged by participating countries.
He said details of what is being paid for, and how much are not public information, at least, for now.
“The target population is that, which will be addressed from a public health perspective, and without specific sub-groupings. The money, like for all public-funded projects and services is from government sources,” Ebineng said.
He added that at this stage the rollout it would be as soon as possible. “Like the rest of the world, we are only learning of those vaccine candidates that can go to human market.” When the country is ready, the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BOMRA) as the relevant authority will do its work and pronounce on use and other regulatory considerations.
Judging from a number of perspectives, he added, including comparison with other countries in the region, Africa and globally, as well as aspects of mortality, and the extent to which the general public is socially aware
of the need to wear masks, practise social distancing and to regularly wash hands, they believe Botswana and the strategies, which have been implanted has done well in responding to the pandemic.
That said, there, clearly, are emerging and other challenges regarding how to maintain any successes, and improve on them. “One cannot say it has been easy, or that enough is being done.
This is why the general public has to be constantly reminded to remain vigilant, and self-protecting at a personal and community level.” He explained that the Integrated Community Health Strategy, which the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Edwin Dikoloti, publicly launched on November 12, 2020, at Avani Hotel is one means of promoting shared responsibility to mitigate the adversity of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Complementary work has also been, and is being carried out across ministries. In particular, the Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration and Local Government and Rural Development—to name a few, have been working with us on managing the pandemic with our communities.
“This community strategy, which draws participants from community structures, which include Members of Parliament, Councillors, Faith-Based Organisations, Dikgosi, Village Development Committees, Bi-lateral Partners and International Organisations like UN Bodies (WHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, USAID etc) are some that are and have to be a part of pushing the pandemic back,” he revealed.