13 Jun 2022

Rising COVID-19 case counts and hospitalisations are conclusive evidence that Botswana has entered its fifth wave of the pandemic, and health officials are worried about the unvaccinated.  The country has recorded six deaths and 3304 new cases in the one week starting May 29 and ending June 4. 

Department of Health Services’ Director Dr Pamela Smith-Lawrence said when giving a COVID-19 update in Gaborone last Thursday, that there were about 1083 new cases in the previous week, but the numbers went up two-fold “this week”. 

She said 3450 people were actively isolated with COVID-19. The Director said the six deaths, was a high number compared to past weeks and months. 

Previously, at worst, the system would record as few as two deaths in a period longer than a week. 

“Now these COVID deaths spark concern among the healthcare system and community,” she said. 

Dr Smith-Lawrence said while it was clear that cases were trending in the wrong direction, people were still reluctant to vaccinate, with the vaccination initiative having plateaued out. 

“The vaccination programme has been stagnant because people are not coming forth,” she said. 

In the last month, only as few as one per cent of the remaining 30 percent of those eligible for the first dose of the vaccine took it, she said.

 First dose vaccinations had therefore remained static at 71 percent month-on-month, while 62 percent of the population were fully vaccinated.  Equally worrisome, she said, were people’s sluggishness in taking the booster shot, considering the winter season had already set in. 

Cold weather was often accompanied by coronaviruses, and the heath system was now experiencing increasing hospitalisations of COVID-19 patients.

She said so far only 40 percent of those eligible for the booster shot had come forward, heightening fears hospitalisations may grow. 

Also, with figures that low, Botswana would not be able to meet the WHO target of 70 percent vaccinations by end of this month. 

Meanwhile Ministry of Health Spokesperson, Dr Christopher Nyanga, said in an interview yesterday that indications were that most of the people who died or were hospitalised had not taken the COVID-19 vaccine or were only partially vaccinated. 

“We cannot over-emphasise the importance of taking your full vaccination and the booster shot as soon as you’re due,” he said. 

Dr Nyanga said the spread was seemingly driven by the Omicron variant and its sub-lineages. 

The six deaths recorded in the last week bring the number of people who have died from COVID-19 to 2705. 

There have been 311 267 cases so far. 

According to COVID-19 Worldometre, Botswana’s infection rate has been doubling every week since the beginning of May, with the country registering a seven-day average of 329 at the close of June 10.  BOPA