Mbabane: The Kingdom of Eswatini has continued to receive more of the controversial Oxford/AstraZeneca doses amid other countries suspended its use in fear of blood clots.
On Saturday afternoon, Eswatini received 12 000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the global COVAX facility. This was the first batch to be received by the country from the international pool; COVAX Facility. However, this is not the first batch to be received by the Kingdom as on Thursday the country received 20 000 doses from the Republic of India.
This brings the total number of doses received by the country so far to 32 000.
When receiving the jabs that arrived on Saturday, the Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi said the country was looking forward to receiving more vaccines from the COVAX facility. What is really important about this vaccine is that it will protect against severe illness and by so doing it will reduce the numbers of deaths from COVID-19.
Earlier on, the Health Minister had urged the nation to take the AstraZeneca vaccine despite the concerns surrounding its usage.
In a 2 minutes video clip that was posted in the government social pages earlier on Saturday, the Minister said this vaccine was meant to help prevent severe cases and mortality rate among other things. She reminded the nation how devastating the 2nd wave was.
However, on Friday World Health Organization expert advisory committee is looking at the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after some countries paused its distribution, but there is no reason not to use it, a spokeswoman has said.
Health authorities in countries including Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended use of the vaccine in response to reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who have received it.
Margaret Harris told a briefing on Friday it was an “excellent vaccine” and that no causal relationship had been established between it and the health problems reported.
“It’s very important to understand that, yes, we should continue to be using the AstraZeneca vaccine,” she said.
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