Uganda concludes legal requirements to acquire 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines

The Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng has revealed that legal requirements through which Uganda will be able to access 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been concluded

“The legal requirements between Uganda, the COVAX facility and the African Union have been concluded,” Aceng said on Tuesday in her address to the nation.

 

She said an order of 9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was placed with the COVAX facility, and that the country is awaiting feedback on availability.

 

In addition, Aceng said an order of 2 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines has been signed up with the African Union and a down payment of $3m (sh10.6b) has been effected.

 

Uganda has not been able to readily access COVID-19 vaccines due to the limitations on access by the manufacturing countries.

 

A total of 1,139,260 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been issued to the population countrywide. A cumulative total of 902,293 people have received the first dose of the vaccine, while 232,743 have received the second dose of the vaccine.

 

“Government has instructed our embassies abroad to search for available vaccines on the market and inform the Ministry of Health accordingly. In this respect, to address the high risks of fraud, unreliable sources and fake vaccines, Government has set in place a technical and an inter-ministerial committee to guide decisions,” Aceng revealed.

 

She said the committees will conduct due diligence based on; the profile of the manufacturing company, relationship between the supplier and manufacturer of COVID-19 in case the supply is through a third party, and quantities that are being offered.

 

They will also find out the; date of delivery, unit cost per dose, and modalities of payment including time frame and who to be paid. “Upon satisfactory evaluation, a decision will be made to undertake the procurement,” said Aceng.