Mozambique awaits the arrival of vaccines “at any time” – Government

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Mozambique awaits the arrival of vaccines “at any time” – Government

11:44 CAT | 12 Feb 2021

Photo: I Stock

Mozambique awaits the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines “at any time”, and already has cold storage chain for conservation at the ready, the Deputy Director of Health Benigna Matsinhe told Lusa today on Friday.

“We have already complied with all the bureaucratic and protocol procedures’ and the cold storage chain of the National Health System is prepared for conservation,” she said.

Matsinhe said that the vaccines were part of the country’s quota under the Covax mechanism, an international initiative coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), to make vaccines against Covid-19 available to poor countries.

“Under Covax, we are entitled to enough vaccine doses to vaccinate 20% of our population, starting with health professionals across the country,” Matsinhe said.

Asked by Lusa if there was an exact date for the arrival of the vaccines in the country and for the beginning of vaccination, Benigna Matsinhe replied: “It may be in late February or in May, we don’t know”.

Matsinhe guaranteed that the country would receive vaccines that were to be kept at temperatures between two and eight degrees, because the Covax mechanism was designed to provide drugs compatible with the “cold chain” existing in countries with less developed health systems.

“We will use the infrastructure that we use in our current vaccination programmes across the country, [which is] capable of conserving the vaccines that will be sent to us,” Matsinhe underlined.

Matsinhe said that the uncertainty regarding the date of arrival of the vaccines was due to the high demand in the international market.

In addition to the doses that will be made available to the country within the scope of Covax, the Mozambican government is committed to finding other vaccine options, to be financed by the State Budget.

“Covax vaccines are free of cost for beneficiary countries, but the Government intends to reinforce this option with vaccines acquired with its own resources,” she added.

Mozambique by Thursday had reported 501 Covid-19 deaths, and a cumulative total of 47,790 cases, of which 63% are accounted recovered.