Is Botswana winning the COVID-19 war?
NO Batswana have enjoyed peace for the past 55-years but many would admit that it is currently frightening to live in Botswana. COVID-19 is ruthlessly ravaging the sparsely populated nation. Despite seemingly earlier signs of success, the virus has clearly exposed the country’s capacity to manage the pandemic. Mmegi Correspondent
GOITSEMODIMO KAELO believes Botswana is currently fighting a lost battle in the war to contain COVID-19
Every battle is won or lost before it begins. This signifies the importance of preparation before the real war begins, and that has actually been Botswana’s let down in the fight against COVID-19.
Botswana recorded its first positive case and death in March 2020. The death toll remained unchanged, with the next casualties in June.
Unlike its regional neighbours, the country was doing relatively well as it had recorded just 42 deaths in 10 months by the end of December. This was despite a rise in infections.
For those months in 2020, it appeared Botswana had gotten a firm grip on the control of the disease.
But the last seven months have been particularly fatal, with more than 1,400 lives lost.
The death knock has become louder. The latest figures from the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force Team have shown that there was a rapid acceleration in the death rate in the recent months of May, June and July, as the country was hit by a third wave.
Botswana has now been declared a red zone by many European countries as they warn their citizens against coming here, and subjecting Baswana to vigorous medical examinations when they wish to take trips abroad.This clearly is a sign that we are losing the grip on the control of COVID-19.
As it is, the centre cannot hold. Despite imposing restrictions, including a ban on liquor sales and a night time curfew, things are continually falling apart.
The horses have bolted and authorities are clutching at straws without knowing exactly what to do, with the equally taking a serious knock.
There are so many contributing factors to the pandemic spiralling out of control.
Take for example, just this week, the Botswana Nurses Union (BONU) revealed that over 800 nurses have been infected with COVID-19 while 23 have succumbed to the disease. These numbers paint a gloomy picture as these are frontliners in the fight against COVID-19.
BONU has attributed both the infections and death toll to the lack of proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
They said their plea to government to avail PPE for all frontliners at all times have been ignored by authorities. It raises serious concerns, if to this day, 16 months since the first case was confirmed, we still have shortage of PPEs.
If we have such a large number of infections among the frontliners, who are charged with caring for the sickly, then it would prove hard to win this battle.
Another issue is adherence to the protocols by members of the public and the failure by law enforcers to ensure compliance. Whilst government has imposed regulations restricting the movement of people, numbers for gatherings, and wearing of masks in public, adherence seems to be problematic.
Gatherings are allowed a maximum of 50 people but there are incidents where the numbers are exceeded with no social distancing as welladhered to. In some cases, the police turn a blind eye.
Some activities such as Sunday soccer are not allowed, but some people continue to ignore this and engage in such activities without being brought to book.
Whilst government eventually closed schools, it took far too long to make that decision despite the infection rates going out of hand.
It was clear that schools had become super spreaders of COVID-19, but government was very hesitant to make the right call at the right time.
We are fighting an invincible enemy, as such every second wasted without making a calculated decision could prove critical at the end.
Finally, is the issue of the vaccine. Botswana is way behind in terms of inoculating its population eligible for vaccination. At the time of writing this article, 209,890 people had received their first dose of vaccine while 121, 518 had been fully vaccinated.
Although President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said there is an earnest push to save Botswana’s population from COVID-19, the country is currently facing serious shortages of vaccine.
At first, it was expected that Botswana would be the first African country to vaccine its entire adult vaccination after the President announced that it had struck a deal for the procurement and supply of vaccine. However, this looks unlikely.
Just last week, government announced that about 15,000 people will not be able to get their second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine in time after it could not get the ordered doses.
The vaccine roll out has proven problematic from the onset and there seems to be no signs in sight to resolve it.
As it is, the targeted group of people under Phase 2 (4554) living in the city, are forced to travel outside Gaborone in search of vaccination points that still have CoVID-19 vaccine doses. Meanwhile, across the country, hospitals and mortuaries are facing increasing unprecedented pressure as admissions and deaths toll are shooting through the roof. The cases are alarming.
All these are indications that Botswana is slowly losing the war on COVID-19, although it did not have to be this way as the warning signs were long signaled.
YES
While disease control measures such as curfews, lockdowns and the ban of alcohol sale have not proven highly successful in combating the spread of COVID-19, government has had its fair share of wins when it comes to crisis management.
Beijing’s laws have resulted in China’s containment of the virus and enabled a return to normality so perhaps the recent control measures like alcohol ban, night curfews, schools closure and regional lockdowns in Botswana are laying the foundation for a strong containment. At the end of 2020, before the Alpha and now Delta variants hit the country, statistics revealed that Bptswana had the potential of winning the crisis with just 42 deaths. The country had registered fewer deaths and by then it had began securing vaccines. Botswana made an upfront payment to COVAX late last year to secure vaccine doses under a twodose regime.
Fast forward to now, COVID-19 infection rates have risen significantly and Botswana has registered 1,485 deaths. President Mokgweetsi Masisi is confident that all will be well, as he has managed to secure enough vaccines for everyone among the adult population in Botswana. Masisi, in an address earlier this month, said government plans to have vaccinated every eligible Motswana by the end of 2022. As of last week ( July 23, 2021), 209, 890 people had received their first dose of vaccine while 121,518 had been fully vaccinated. With an estimated total eligible population of 1.53 million, Botswana has already started first doses for people aged 45-54.
In March, Botswana received a donation of 30,000 COVID-19 vaccines from India known as COVISHIELD. The latter is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine being manufactured in India under licence from the Serum Institute of India (SII). SII is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer currently pushing out more than 50 million doses each month.
Meanwhile, government recently purchased Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine from China. The Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine also known as the CoronaVac, is a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Beijing-based pharmaceutical company, Sinovac. In terms of the upcoming vaccines Masisi said Botswana expects to receive 50,000 Mordena vaccines and at least 50,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines by December 2021.
Moreover, last month US vaccine producer, Moderna, confirmed a bilateral deal to supply Botswana with COVID-19 vaccines. The supply deal is believed to be one of the first Moderna has clinched with an African country as most of its distribution has been for the US market. The Moderna deal is considered as a scoop for government as the US company’s vaccine is among the most-praised in the world with a reported 94% effectiveness to prevent symptomatic COVID after the second dose. Responding to an inquiry from this publication, the US Embassy in Botswana revealed that Botswana is on the list of African countries set to receive additional vaccines. While it is not known when the country will receive the additional vaccines from COVAX, the US in partnership with the African Union (AU) and COVAX, will donate 25 million COVID-19 vaccines to 49 African countries, Botswana included. Though Botswana is not part of the initial batch of countries that will receive the dose, Biden’s administration has also pledged that it will provide 500 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to about 100 countries over the next two years, a significant portion of those will also be deployed to Africa.
Still on the issue, Masisi has also preached behavioral change, which is key in fighting the pandemic. In his last public address earlier this month the president said the virus can only be defeated through strict adherence to set protocols. He added that law enforcement officers have noticed an increase in non-adherence to COVID-19 health protocols, a development that he regarded as worrisome and unfortunate. Masisi further said law enforcement officers will take stern measures against those who do not adhere to protocols.
The police also issued stiff penalties on enforcement of COVID-19 regulations recently. The police revealed that members of the public charged for disobeying COVID-19 laws are in most cases given minimum fines.
“As you are no doubt aware, the country is experiencing an exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and it is apparent that the low fines could be attributed to this lack of compliance with COVID-19 protocols. As a consequence, you are hereby directed that with immediate effect, all offenders charged for violating COVID-19 laws should face maximum penalties in order to achieve compliance thereto. This directive is binding on all commanders and I expect strict adherence at all times,” read a police Savigram.