13 Aug 2020

Botswana is currently monitoring and evaluating the situation in countries reported to be developing a COVID-19 vaccine, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Lemogang Kwape has said.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA in the wake of recent media reports that Russia had developed a COVID-19 vaccine, Dr Kwape stated that Botswana would have to exercise due diligence before involving itself in the developments.

Russia, he pointed out, was not the only nation which was in the process of developing a COVID -19 vaccine. 

There were other countries enlisted by WHO which were currently engaged in similar efforts to come up with a vaccine, he said.

Dr Kwape said his ministry was assessing research from a list of countries that were engaged in bringing possible medication.

He explained that there were several ongoing clinical trials develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19 coordinated by WHO. 

Dr Kwape said government would continue to provide updated information as soon research results became available.

He reiterated that in the event a vaccine was finally found, there would be a process in place to be adhered to especially with regards to procurement.

The process, he explained, would take into account the amount to be given to each country.

"We are all eager to finally have the COVID-19 vaccine, but necessary procedures and due diligence have to be conducted to ensure safety of Batswana at large," he said. 

   Meanwhile, a press release from the embassy of the Russian Federation in Botswana says the COVID-19 vaccine, named “Sputnik V”, is expected to go into civilian circulation on January 1, 2021.

The release says after WHO announced that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was officially a pandemic, the Gamaleya National Research Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry began to work on a vaccine against the virus.

Furthermore, it says the pre-clinical trials of the vaccine were carried out at the Gamaleya Centre and the Central Scientific Research Institute of the defence ministry and it has shown high effectiveness and safety.

“Vaccine production will now begin at two sites: The Gamaleya Centre of the Russian Healthcare Ministry and the company Binnopharm,” states the release.

It says the vaccine will be gradually introduced among civilians, especially those whose work involves dealing with infected patients, such as medical workers, teachers, policemen and elderly people.

WHO and Russian health authorities are already discussing the process for possible WHO pre-qualification for the COVID-19 vaccine, it says.

The release quotes WHO spokesman as saying the pre-qualification of any vaccine includes rigorous review and assessment of all required safety and efficacy data, which will take quite a lot of time.

It says meanwhile, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) was investing in the production and promotion of the vaccine abroad.

Russia has already received preliminary requests for one billion doses of the vaccine from over 20 countries, says the release.

It further indicates that in the 1990s, the Gamaleya Centre conducted the first successful experiments to develop gene therapy drugs and that due to further development of the project, a universal platform for the development of vaccines against various infectious diseases such as Ebola fever had been created.

 

“As a result, a group of developers led by Dr A. Gintsburg has created a coronavirus vaccine in the shortest possible time and received a Russian Federation patent for the invention,” it says. BOPA