Local doctors urge government to… SPEED UP VACCINE ARRIVAL

Local doctors worry about rising Covid deaths The world gets better, Botswana gets worse Any vaccine better than nothing at all

Botswana should consider utilising any type of vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to curb the alarming numbers of Covid-19 deaths in the country, Secretary General of the Botswana Doctors Union (BDU), Dr Charles Muyela said in an interview with The Midweek Sun.

According to WHO, global Covid-19 cases have been on a downward trend for the sixth successive week, and deaths declined by 20 percent, while Botswana remains one of the countries experiencing escalating numbers of Covid deaths.

BDU believes that the decline in global Covid deaths is due to vaccinations currently being rolled out in other countries. “We haven’t started any vaccination, and our numbers are rising. This means that there is a lot to say about vaccines, Covid-19 and the strains,” Dr Muyela said.

He believes that Botswana should have good genomic surveillance system or to know which variants are available, and which one is dominant. “Maybe the variant in South Africa is not even the variant in Botswana, so we should not worry about what vaccine to use.” Moreover, Covid vaccines limit the effects of the disease, therefore the lack of data on Astra Zeneca for instance, should not necessarily be a barrier, he argued..

“This can work as an advantage for us because AstraZeneca doesn’t need ultra-cold storage, it is just like other vaccines such as Johnson and Johnson, but we have to wait longer for its approval and roll out, while people are dying,” he said, also highlighting that those over 65 years are at higher risk and WHO recommends that AstraZeneca be administered to them. BDU is concerned about pregnant women, breast feeding mothers and people living with HIV, as there is limited clarity and data on this significant population concerning vaccines. The doctors’ union suggests that Botswana should be looking at the cost of the vaccine, how much per dose it can afford, the availability of the dose and in what quantities. They say that since these vaccines are not necessarily produced to stop the spread of the disease, but to reduce the severity of Covid to nil symptoms, it is important for the country to find out if they can afford to pay for large quantities. “Efficacy isn’t enough, and it is misleading because efficacy is lab-based, what one gets in the lab won’t be the same in the real world,” Dr Muyela said, noting that they are aware of a study being done by Harvard Botswana on AstraZeneca and the fact that it is going to take time, while people continue to die of Covid.

BDU believes that the vaccine will lower the chances of being exposed to Covid-19, as prevention is always better than cure. According to them, it is better to take any available vaccine than not to take any vaccine at all.