Private sector gets goahead for vaccine purchases
● Multinational companies eager to seal deals ● We’re not averse, still considering – gov’t ● Embassies vaccinate staff with home country doses
The private sector has reportedly been given a conditional green light to acquire and distribute COVID-19 vaccines amongst its workers, their families and even communities it operates in, working in close collaboration with government and health regulators, Mmegi has established.
The development is seen as a breakthrough to months of negotiations between government and the private sector, which had argued that allowing companies to vaccinate their own staff would relieve the weight on government.
Since COVID-19 vaccine production began globally last year, government has retained the sole right to purchase and distribute doses, with officials saying that manufacturers preferred to deal with governments and not individual companies.
However, of the approximately P200 million government recently said it had spent thus far securing more than two million doses, just 14% have arrived in the country, forcing the national vaccination roll-out to depend on donations.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said the slow roll-out is due to hoarding by rich nations and inequitable distribution by certain platforms Botswana made payments to.
This week, Business Botswana president, Gobusamang Keebine told Mmegi there had been positive developments concerning the private sector playing a greater role in direct vaccine acquisition. “I can confirm that we had a meeting with government through the chairman of the national vaccine committee last Friday.
“We have agreed that subject to certain conditions, they will let us the private sector procure and vaccinate our staff, families and even communities that we operate from. “That’s what we had said we would like to do,” he said. Business Botswana is the country’s largest employer organisation, grouping most of the country’s companies across various sectors.
Business Botswana has direct access to the highest decision-making levels of government, through the High Level Consultative Council. Earlier this year, the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana urged government to allow its members to directly procure vaccines in order to reinvigorate the depressed sector.
Insurance companies and medical aids, including BOMAID, have similarly indicated that they can privately procure and vaccinate workers and members. Across the border, the South African government has hailed its private sector as being pivotal in that country’s ability to roll out adequate vaccines for citizens.
In March, two civic organisations in that country, AfriForum and Solidarity, took the government to court to stop the ‘nationalisation of vaccination’, with the government responding that it did not impede doing so, even though it would be practically difficult. While the South African government is still the sole procurer of vaccines in that country, giant private healthcare providers such as Discovery, Clicks and Dischem have broadened the vaccination distribution network, allowing faster roll-out. Keebine said government’s conditional approval meant the hard work could begin. “We are working round the clock to see where to get these vaccines, the quantities,” he told Mmegi.
“We are working with government and doing proper due diligence on those who say they can supply us, together with the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority.”
While it is not readily known what the private sector’s capacity to procure and distribute vaccines for its workers, their families and possibly communities is, some entities have already shown their prowess. According to a previous statement by COVID-19 Vaccine Committee chair Professor Mosepele Mosepele, medical aids had indicated they could contribute P152 million towards vaccination of their own members and willing private companies P167 million, all under Phase 1 of the vaccination roll-out.
Phase 1, which ran from March to late July, targeted those aged over 55 and healthcare workers. BOMAID, the largest private sector medical aid, recently indicated its balance sheet was deep enough to keep providing 100% COVID-19 cover to members, including home consultations, testing, hospitalisation and after-care counselling.
De Beers, which donated P55 million to government’s vaccination programme, has also said it was consulting government on vaccine procurement.
De Beers is government’s 50/50 partner in Debswana, one of the country’s largest employers and a strategically important economic entity. Keebine said other companies were also willing to come to the fore.
“We know there are certain multinational companies through their parent companies in Europe, Canada and elsewhere and there has been talk to say they could help,” he told Mmegi.
“As we have been given the go-ahead to investigate this, we are in touch to see how to work with them so that it’s not just the multinationals but the private sector across the board.” Keebine added: “COVID-19 has to be an all hands on deck affair; it cannot be one entity. “We all have to play our role in our little ways.“
A company with 20 workers saying it can get 2,000 doses for them and their families, will help. “We are very grateful that government is not saying no, but it’s saying within these parameters.” Reached for comment, the Ministry of Health and Wellness stopped short of saying an agreement had been reached with the private sector, but rather explained that the rationale behind government taking the lead was to ensure “equity in health so that no person is disadvantaged from accessing COVID-19 vaccines”.
“Proposals by some in the private sector have been made to government on the possibility of such companies buying COVID-19 vaccines or partnering with government to do so,” health ministry spokesperson, Christopher Nyanga told Mmegi in an emailed response.
“Government is not totally averse to the idea and is giving it due consideration. “Although government holds the view that health services including COVID-19 vaccines should be accessible to all, it cannot stop private companies willing to buy vaccines from doing so.”
Nyanga said what had always been a challenge for the private sector, was the number of people it wished to buy the vaccines for. “Given the high global demand for COVID-19 vaccines, it has been easier for countries to buy huge volumes for their people as opposed to companies who will only be buying for a small number of people.
“Most vaccine manufacturers preferred selling to countries since they were buying in bigger numbers when compared to individual companies.
“It’s only recently that some vaccine manufacturers are warming up to the idea of selling to non-governmental entities,” he said.
The last Statistics Botswana data showed that the country had about 390,000 workers in the formal sector out of a total labour force aged 18 and above of 934,000. Nyanga said companies that opt to buy COVID-19 vaccines still have to satisfy local regulatory frameworks before they can be allowed to buy and roll out COVID-19 vaccines.
As of now, no private company has been permitted to procure vaccines on its own,” he said. Meanwhile, Mmegi is informed that embassies aligned with major Western nations have procured, imported and vaccinated their local staff.
The United States’ local embassy staff were reportedly vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine in February, while the European Union recently covered their employees with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Government at some point had included diplomats and their spouses among the Phase 1 vaccination programme, but the embassies reportedly procured from their home countries. As the doses paid for by government delay in reaching local soils, more companies are pressing government to officially clear the air and allow direct procurement from manufacturers. By July 30, just 127,362 people were fully vaccinated, up from 124,425 as at July 24.