The Kingdom of Eswatini is expecting to receive more donated COVID-19 vaccines before month-end, Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku announced during a press briefing that was held at the Cabinet Offices on Thursday.

In March, the country received the first batch of 20 000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines that were donated by the government of India and another 12 000 doses of Astrazeneca from the COVAX Facility.

On Thursday, Masuku announced that the country will before the end of April receive another batch of AstraZeneca together with a first batch of Pfizer vaccine from the COVAX facility.

He said the government is also expecting to receive the first batch from the 500 000 vaccines that were pledged by the Astrazeneca vaccine manufacturer.

“We are still expecting to receive a batch of AstraZeneca & Pfizer vaccines from the COVAX facility before the end of this month. Additionally, we are also in line to receive the first batch of 500 000 vaccines from AstraZeneca before the end of this month to continue with the rollout of the vaccination exercise,” said Masuku.

Meanwhile, the government has previously announced that E200 Million has been set aside for purchasing COVID-19 vaccines but has not yet been utilized thus far.

Currently, the government has been able to vaccinate 35 227 people who include health workers and those above the age of 60.