15 Apr 2021

The advent of COVID-19 has seen vitamins that boost immunity fly off the shelves of many pharmacies. 

The development has thus culminated in a situation where local pharmacies are having a hard time meeting the ever increasing demand for Vitamin C, D and Zinc by the general public.

The suppliers on the other hand have had no choice, but to ration the supply of these drugs to pharmacies spread across the country. 

Mr Mabese Sephooa, of Ringwood Pharmacy agrees that meeting the demand for the supplements has not been easy, and has weighed on pharmacies, which depended entirely on local suppliers to procure the drugs.

“Our suppliers buy their stock from outside the country, so this has proven to be problematic,” he said.

That being the case, Mr Sephooa encouraged Batswana to take vitamins as they were not only good antioxidants, but could also help supplement a person’s diet. 

He underscored that ageing people, in particular, should take vitamins to boost their immune systems. 

His sentiments were echoed by fellow pharmacist, Mr Tangai Mapfumo, who attributes the shortfall on the fact that Botswana imports its vitamin supplements from countries such as India, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“The fact that all the countries that supply Botswana with vitamins are under severe supply and demand scenarios worsen the situation,” he said. ends