Chinese COVID-19 vaccines purchased by Namibia expected on Saturday: minister

A batch of 250,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine bought by the Namibian government from China are expected to arrive in the country on Saturday, Namibia's Health Minister, Kalumbi Shangula said Thursday.

Shangula said that the distribution of the vaccines will be done over Saturday and Sunday, and the vaccination campaign will resume on July 19 countrywide.

"The ministry is identifying new vaccination sites in order to improve access. We have noticed great interest among the public to get vaccinated. We are pleased with this development. We, therefore, assure the public that we shall do everything possible to make sure that vaccines are available," he added.

Meanwhile, Shangula said, the country also expects the delivery of 40,800 doses of AstraZeneca from the COVAX facility from next week and the exact date of arrival of the vaccines has not been communicated yet.

Furthermore, he said Namibia has procured 333,333 doses of Johnson and Johnson from the African Union platform and these doses will be delivered in a staggered fashion from August to December.

As of Wednesday, the Health Ministry said a total of 132,784 people received the first dose and 31,833 are fully vaccinated, but the country had temporarily suspended the vaccination at some sites where vaccines were used up.