Botswana to receive more COVID-19 vaccines in August

GABORONE, August 11 — There is some relief in Botswana as the country expects to receive more vaccines after a slow down to its vaccination program in the past few weeks due to unavailability of vaccine.
Following the arrival of 38,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on August 8, the country expects to receive 108,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine and a further 81,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on this Thursday and Saturday respectively.
The news on arrival of vaccines comes as a huge relief to the southern African country that is currently going through its worst phase of infections and escalating deaths since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
In the latest case report from the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 given on Monday, the country had recorded 130,771 confirmed cases and 1,832 deaths making it one of the highest deaths per 100,000 population in the world. On the other hand, a slow vaccination programme has seen only 132,466 people being fully vaccinated and 243,894 having received their first dose.
The vaccines expected this week are projected to get the vaccine rollout plan back on track. Back in April President Mokgweetsi Masisi had said the country has secured enough vaccine to vaccinate the eligible adult population, but delays in delivery hugely disrupted the rollout plan. (Xinhua)