28 Mar 2021

Botswana  on March 28 received the first batch of 33 600 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine purchased from South Korea through the COVAX facility.

The consignment is Botswana‘s second following receipt earlier this month of 30 000 doses of Covishield vaccine donated by India.

Receiving the vaccine, Vice President Slumber Tsogwane said the arrival of vaccine brought a sigh of relief as it meant more Batswana would receive their share of medication.

He said government was determined to purchase more vaccines so that everyone could get the jab.

“We remain hopeful that our mineral sector will do better. If not, we are determined to forgo some of the development projects to save humanity,” he stated.

For his part, European Union ambassador to Botswana and SADC, Mr Jan Sadek congratulated government for the sterling job of facilitating the arrival of the first batch of COVID vaccine procured through the COVAX facility.

“The vaccine delivery is really the result of the effort of the Botswana Government, which has funded the vaccine by its own means,” Mr Sadek said.

He said the vaccine’s arrival followed on the successful management of the pandemic, whereby government had kept the country remarkably safe.

The ambassador said he was hopeful that the vaccine would be an exit strategy from the pandemic.

Mr Sadek, who was representing international partners and the diplomatic community, also  attributed the vaccine’s arrival to international efforts to which many countries had contributed financially.

“All of us here today represent countries and governments that are backing the initiative and have invested billions into it,” he stated.

The initiative, he said, had financed the mechanism to distribute vaccines even to low-income countries.

Mr Sadek said it was only by international solidarity that the world could free itself from the pandemic. 

“That is why we are here and this is what makes COVAX special. No one will be safe until we are all safe,” he said.

He commended the UN and its agencies WHO and UNICEF for their role in administering the COVAX multilateral initiative.

UNICEF country representative, Dr Joan Matji acknowledged major COVAX financiers represented at the airport being USA, EU, UK, Germany and Japan.

She stated that COVAX was co-convened by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Vaccine Alliance Gavi and WHO working in partnership with UNICEF as a key implementing partner. Ends