The Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine, says that another batch of 1.2 million doses of the same vaccine will arrive in the country by the end of next month.
As a result, she says more people will now have access to the one-shot vaccine because the government will not ring fence the vaccine to the initial target group of 4.8million people. Those targeted included medical workers, teachers, security personnel, the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions.
Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Health interacts with with officials from the ministry, NMS and AVAT at Entebbe Airport. NMS Photo
Uganda has received
196,800 doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. This is the first batch
of the nine million doses of the single-shot vaccine procured by the
government.
The vaccines were delivered aboard Brussels
Airlines, which torched down at
Entebbe International Airport on Thursday night. The Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana
Atwine, says that another
batch of 1.2 million doses
on the same vaccine will arrive in the country by the end
of next month. She says that more people will now have access to COVID-19 vaccination because of the delivery of the
additional vaccines.
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Atwine explains that since March, Uganda has
received 5,690,363 doses of various vaccines including AstraZeneca, Moderna,
Sinovac, Pfizer, and Johnson and Johnson. Of these doses, 2.2 million
have been administered, whereby 1,7 million people have got their first jab while nearly 600,000 have gotten two doses. Since
people get only one shot for Johnson and Johnson vaccine, Atwine is optimistic that it will attract a
high turnup across the country.
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She adds that the ministry is set to open vaccination sites at places that attract
large gatherings such as religious centres and markets.
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Atwine says the government released Shillings 120 billion to buy vaccines. Shillings
55.8billion was released to buy 9 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson
COVID-19 vaccine. The
doses are being
procured through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust-AVAT. AVAT was launched
last November by the African Union with support from Africa CDC and Afriexim Bank among others to ensure
widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines across the continent.
Kudakwashe Matereke, the Regional Chief Operating
Officer Afriexim Bank East Africa Branch, says Uganda has made an order through AVAT for 9 million doses, 196,800of which have been delivered. AVAT
signed an agreement to purchase 400 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson
vaccine to be delivered by next year.
" By working together and by pooling
resources, African countries have been able to secure millions of vaccine doses
produced right here in Africa. This will provide impetus to the fight against
COVID-19 across the continent and will
lay the basis for Africa’s social and economic recovery, “he said.
Adding that” This
vaccine acquisition is a unique milestone for the African continent. It is the
first time Africa has undertaken a procurement of this magnitude involving all
Member States. It also marks the first time that the AU Member States have
collectively purchased vaccines to safeguard the health of the African
population."
The 400m vaccines through AVAT are expected to
immunise a third of the African people. Africa wants to vaccinate at least
60 percent of its 1.2 billion population Matereke says UNICEF is providing logistical
and delivery services for the doses. AVAT expects to ensure the delivery of 50
million vaccine doses to African countries before the end of December 2021. By
January, the number of vaccines being released will be in the excess of 25 million per month.
