Botswana 'Red Listing' Might Affect Vaccine Arrivals
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday November 30, 2021 06:00
According to the Minister of Health and Wellness Edwin Dikoloti the country was expecting vaccines from different brands, but as it stands now he is not sure if they would arrive on time due to the travel ban imposed on the country and grounding of flights.
“We were expecting one million doses before the end of the year and now we are just confused as we are not sure if those vaccines will come because we have been red-listed by the manufacturing countries,” he said.
Dikoloti said in a press briefing that the new variant named Omicron, which seems to be deadlier than other variants has caused panic in most countries such that they took the drastic decision to red list Botswana as a precautionary measure.
He explained that though the variant does not originate from Botswana as the first detected cases were of foreign nationals, it has nonetheless affected the country as most Southern African nations have been red-listed.
“Within the Southern African countries, Omicron cases have only been detected in Botswana and South Africa so far. Although most of these countries have been banned from entry by the United States of America, United Kingdom and many other countries, including some of the African countries,” he said.
More on the variant, Dikoloti said it was first detected in four foreign nationals who were fully vaccinated and have since left the country to SA and that after that more Batswana tested positive.
He pointed out that so far they have had 19 cases of the new variant and that 14 of them were reported in Greater Gaborone, four in Palapye while Kgatleng reported one case.
“Most of these cases, contacts have been traced, tested and quarantined while the four foreign nationals have returned as they have finished their mandatory quarantine,” he said.
On the preparedness of the country, the minister said they purchased all the necessary health equipment as they want to avoid what happened during the July/August spike where the health sector struggled due to a lack of medical equipment like ventilators.
He explained that since restrictions on travel and mandatory quarantines have been imposed by various countries, Botswana also remains vigilant.
Dokoloti encouraged the public to maintain adhering to COVID-19 protocols and continue to vaccinate.
“This new virus lineage has a higher number of mutations even more than the delta variant and we should do everything possible to prevent its spread. The usual Public Health Control Measure such as [putting on a] face mask, hand washing and social distancing are still effective against all variants,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Eric Molale said they have decided to impose stringent measures, especially in the entertainment industry to avoid the spread of the disease.
Molale said they will make sure that festival-goers produce vaccination certificates to access entry and also warn promoters of the public overcrowding.