President Museveni has said that the government is struggling to procure vaccines to vaccinate 21 million people in the country.
The country plans to vaccinate 22 million people aged 18 and above in the country.
However, data from the health ministry shows that only 200,000 people in the country have been fully vaccinated with the donated AstraZeneca vaccines while over one million have received one jab of the vaccine.
At the moment, the country’s vaccination campaign is hinged on donations something that might not change anytime soon given the government’s failure to access vaccines on the open market for sale.
Addressing the nation on Saturday, President Museveni says despite the country’s inability to procure the vaccines, the government is not giving up.
He says that health officials are now looking for vaccines from other sources. Previously, the country had focused its procurement plan on the AstraZeneca and Johnson& Johnson vaccines through the COVAX facility and the African Union, but now the country is looking at procuring Sputnik V.
The government had already committed to spending over 300 billion shillings to procure vaccines from COVAX and the AU.
The country’s struggle to procure vaccines will likely affect the re-opening of educational institutions.
In addition to looking for vaccines, the government is also involved in research for a local vaccine.
According to President Museveni, the scientists developing the vaccine have three stages to go.
The scientists are currently at stage five of vaccines research and are yet to release any findings of their work.
Gov’t Struggling to Procure Vaccines-Museveni
