We will receive vaccine soon - minister

MBABANE – The Ministry of Health has guaranteed the nation that vaccines will be arriving in the country soon.

This comes after reports that Eswatini has not been listed among the 10 African countries that will be receiving the US- donated vaccines very soon. The country was expecting the delivery of 302 400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, donated by the Government of the United States of America through the COVAX Facility Dose Sharing Mechanism, by the end of July.

In an interview with the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, she said the US made its commitment through the local embassy and it was put down in writing. Nkosi said they had not yet received any communication to the contrary. The minister said due to the unrest there had been delays in the arrival of the vaccines and as such there was postponement, hence they were awaiting correspondence. However, she said an indicative date around July 29 and 30 had been put in place and they could only confirm when they received the airway bill.

She also mentioned that there were many rich countries that were donating to COVAX as it was the global agreed pooled procurement targeting 92 countries.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the US Head of Mission to the African Union ( AU), Jessica Lapenn, listed five countries that would be getting the vaccine this week and five others that would receive the following week.

Conference

According to our sister publication, Eswatini News, Lapenn stated the above during a weekly press conference on the COVID19 situation, which was hosted by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. She stated that the first one- million- doses consignment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines had been dispatched and delivered to Senegal, Gambia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Djibouti. Further, she added that the next consignment which would contain 12 million doses would be going to Lesotho, Zambia, Cameroon, Niger and the Central African Republic.

When reached for comment, the local US Embassy office spokesperson Thandiswa Ginindza said she was yet to touch base with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR).