Malawi Authorities say the country will not be receiving the 192,000 Covid-19 AstraZeneca jabs which were supposed to arrive in the country today, Thursday.
Minister Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, who is also Co-Chairperson for Presidential Committee on Covid-19, confirmed the development in an interview with Zodiak Online.
She the development is due to logistical challenges and was unclear on when the consignment will arrive in Malawi.
The consignment was procured with support from the United Nations Children’s Agency- UNICEF.
Malawi plans to vaccinate about 11 million of its 18 million people to achieve herd immunity. But only about 400,000 Malawians have been inoculated so far.
Cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 40,713 cases including 1,276 deaths (Case Fatality Rate is at 3.13%). Of these cases, 2,506 are imported infections and 38,207 are locally transmitted.
Cumulatively, 34,139 cases have now recovered (recovery rate of 83.9%) and 232 were lost to follow-up. This brings the total number of active cases to 5,066.