The kingdom only received 32,000 doses of the AstraZeneca jab for a population of 1.1 million. A person needs two doses to be fully protected against coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Swazi Ministry of Health reported on Saturday (3 April 2021) that 18,130 people had been vaccinated so far in total.
A drive to vaccinate people aged 60 and over started on 31 March. Before the vaccines were rolled out the Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi and other cabinet ministers were vaccinated. A total of 5,839 healthcare workers have reportedly also been vaccinated.
There are now fewer than 14,000 doses left to administer.
Nkosi said Swaziland did not have enough doses to inoculate all the elderly and others with pre-existing serious conditions.
She said they were expecting to receive the next doses in the second quarter of 2021, which ends on 30 June.
She added, ‘At the moment we don’t have the specific dates as to when we will receive delivery.’
Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Dr Simon Zwane said the numbers wanting the vaccine were huge and there were problems controlling crowds of people who turned up for jabs. There was a danger of crowds spreading the virus.
See also
Swaziland top dogs get their coronavirus vaccines ahead of frontline health staff
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2021/03/swaziland-top-dogs-get-their.htmlSwaziland U-turn on use of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2021/03/swaziland-u-turn-on-use-of-astrazeneca.html
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