More COVID-19 vaccines expire in April
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday March 28, 2022 14:00
Health and Wellness minister, Dr Edwin Dikoloti called on legislators in Parliament on Friday to encourage more people to vaccinate rather than concentrate on the issue of expired vaccines.
Dikoloti had just delivered a vaccination report statement when Serowe South Legislator, Leepetswe Lesedi, asked the minister if there were any expired vaccines and at what value.
Mahalapye West legislator, David Tshere also asked the minister if there are any vaccines due to expire soon.
“We have vaccines that are already expired being AstraZeneca for which I do not have numbers for. We also have some consignments of Moderna that will expire in April on different dates. We shall keep updating the nation and we will compile the numbers in order for us to give a full report. I call on you all to preach vaccination rather than expiration of it as winter is almost here,” he said.
Meanwhile, the minister said they were proud of strides they have made since starting the vaccination campaign.
“I wish to state from the onset that tremendous progress has been made to save the lives of Batswana and avert a possible humanitarian catastrophe arising from the devastating effects of this deadly pandemic, in line with President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s priority number one, in the reset agenda,” he said.
Dikoloti thanked Batswana for the many sacrifices they have made in assisting the government contain the pandemic. He said the gains made by the country may not have been possible had it not been because of Batswana’s efforts.
“With more than 60% of our entire population having received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, we remain one of the most vaccinated countries in the world and one of the four countries in Africa that met the WHO target of reaching 40% vaccination threshold by December 2021,” he said.
“We are well on course to reaching the new 70% target set by WHO for countries to have reached by mid-2022. I can’t thank my ministerial staff together with our partners and other health care workers across the length and breadth of this country enough, for their tireless efforts in ensuring that many lives are saved.”
Dikoloti cautioned Batswana not to interpret the ease in restrictions to mean that COVID-19 has now been totally defeated. He said the pandemic remains an existential threat to people’s lives and livelihoods.
“We need to continue with the two tried and tested approaches to fighting this pandemic as advised by healthcare workers. These two approaches are the pharmaceutical approach represented by COVID-19 vaccines and the non-pharmaceutical approach represented by COVID-19 protocols. I, therefore, encourage Batswana to take up COVID-19 vaccines if they have not yet done so. I also call upon those who have not yet taken their boosters to do so if due. Let us continue to observe COVID-19 protocols as advised by healthcare workers,” he said. He added that the continuous emergence of new variants of the SARS-Cov-2 virus pose a serious threat to the country’s future and humanity in general.
“Preliminary research on the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that the disease may evolve into an endemic stage. This means that the disease may stay with us for a longer time than we had anticipated. As the Ministry of Health and Wellness, we will continue to keep an eye on this disease and take the necessary steps to protect Batswana and all residents of this country. We have no doubt that one day we will defeat this virus,” he said.
Botswana has to date recorded over 264,000 cases and 2,619 deaths. A total of 2.95 million doses have been given with a population of 1.26 million (53.7%) being fully vaccinated.