Mbabane: Acting Prime Minister Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku says the E200 million that was set apart by the government to procure more COVID-19 vaccines is still available.
Masuku was speaking at the press conference held at the Cabinet offices on Thursday afternoon, where he said the Cabinet is ensuring that the funds were safe and secure awaiting the right time to be utilised.
He said the amount will be used to pay for more vaccines once the manufactures has finalized all logistics necessary for procurement. Masuku said procuring vaccines was not as simple as one may think; there were procedures to be followed before one can even pay for the vaccines.
Masuku said once the procedures and logistics were finalized, the Minister of Finance will then do the payments and the vaccines will be brought into the country.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi said the country was awaiting for more vaccines but there was no exact date to when will the vaccines will come to the country. She said the country will procure 15 percent of the 270 million doses that were secured by the African union. This translates to 237 328 doses.
She said in the meantime, 32 000 Emaswati will be vaccinated with the readily available doses that were received by the country a week ago. The country received 20 000 doses of AstraZeneca from the Republic of India and also 12 000 doses from the COVAX Facility.
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