Health care workers first in the line for second COVID-19 jabs

Mbabane: Eswatini has received its 14 400 doses of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX facility and healthcare workers will be first in the line for the second doses of the vaccination program.

The COVID-19 vaccines landed at the King Mswati III International Airport on Wednesday morning.

This will bring the total number of doses received through this facility to about 46 400.  In early March the country received a shipment of about 32 000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. Currently, 35 227 emaSwati have been vaccinated.

The Minister of Health announced that the vaccines that will be received will because as a second dose to vaccinate health care workers and also as the first dose for those who did not vaccinate in the first vaccination program.

Nkosi highlighted that a vaccination schedule is being prepared by the ministry of health for the health care workers who are due for their second doses.

The minister explained that those who received their first doses were now due for second doses and the fore the vaccines will be used to the and also it will avail an opportunity to those who missed the first vaccination phase to get an opportunity to be vaccinated.

 “These doses will be used to provide second doses for all the health care workers who received their first doses and are now due to receive their second doses. Our surveillance data indicate that there are about 9 400 health care workers who received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine,” Minister Nkosi said.

“A vaccination schedule is being prepared by the Ministry for the health care workers that are due to receive their second doses, and this will be communicated with the health care workers through short message system (SMS) using the contact numbers they provided during the registration process,” the Minister said.

She said after providing the health care workers with their second doses, the remaining doses would be allocated to members of the public who will also have become due for their second doses.