The Prime Minister (PM) Dr.Moeketsi Majoro received 302, 400 doses of Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine from the United States (US) government at the Ministry of Health (MoH) Headquarters on Friday.
The US Ambassador to Lesotho Rebecca Gonzales said vaccines have been donated by the Biden-Harris Administration to the government and the people of Lesotho. “This consignment is part of the 25 million doses that have been donated to the African countries through the COVAX facility, in close coordination with the African Union (AU) and Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). This donation embodies the continuation of US global leadership in public health and the international COVID-19 response which is critical to ending this pandemic,” Gonzales said
She further noted that these vaccines are in addition to the $4 billion (approximately 61 billion Maloti) that the US has already committed to the COVAX facility, making the US “the single largest contributor to the international response to COVID-19”.
“Over the past year, the US government has moved swiftly to support the local response to control the spread of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Lesotho. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US government has contributed nearly $6 million (approximately 86 million Maloti) to help the Kingdom of Lesotho. I wish to congratulate the Government of Lesotho through MoH for leading efforts to keep us all safe during this most challenging period. We are extremely grateful to Lesotho’s frontline health workers who have remained courageous in their leadership and engagement on the COVID-19 response across villages, councils, and each of the districts in this beautiful Kingdom,”
“I also would like to recognize the incredibly impactful role played by our international and multilateral partners, especially United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the African Union, Africa CDC, and GAVI in facilitating all efforts leading to today’s historic event,” she stated.
Gonzales mentioned that this donation underscores the reality that COVID-19 remains a serious threat. “I urge the government of Lesotho to ensure the swift and equitable distribution of the vaccines across the 10 districts of Lesotho prioritizing those individuals whose underlying health conditions make them especially vulnerable. We are all too familiar with the devastation and heartbreak of this pandemic. Many of us have lost loved ones and jobs; health systems and economies have collapsed. We need to remain vigilant, and everyone still has an important role to play from frontline health workers in the country’s health facilities to ordinary Basotho from Tele to Mechachane,” she indicated.
“As per my favorite Sesotho phrase “Letšoele le beta poho”, we are indeed stronger together. Our support to and continued partnership with MoH and other implementing partners remains critically important to controlling the pandemic, slowing the emergence of new variants, and helping to restart our global economy,” she noted.
For his part, Majoro said Lesotho is dominated by the South African (SA) Covid-19 varient and the Delta variant. He said these variants are the most virulent, fastest and opportunistic.
“In addition to these, in the next 10 days I think we should be getting 260, 000 doses from Sinopharm and I have promises also from African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) that it will ship 108 000 doses to Lesotho next month and they will ship those 108 000 doses every month until our order is complete as we have ordered 1.1 million doses from AVAT,” Majoro said.
He showed that the importance of getting vaccines early is that the Coronavirus has damaged the economies and drove all people into poverty.
He thanked US government, UN and COVAX for the received vaccines and the private sectors for its contribution. The private sector has supported its order with AVAT vaccine and bought 60 000 doses of Sinopharm which will vaccinate 30 000 people.
The United Nations (UN) Representative Betty Wabunoha indicated that they are pleased to see partners such as the US government working together with the UN agencies to ensure equitable access to vaccination and the delivery of timely vaccines not only to Lesotho but to other countries along Africa.
“Like the first doses donated through the COVAX facility in March and May, the UN remains the committed partner with the government of Lesotho to ensure that people have access to the vaccines as they become more available globally. Through the UN agencies that lead on the vaccines and health sector within the UN and United Nations International and Children’s Emegiency Fund (UNICEF) which have been supportive in the procurement and deployment of vaccines not only in Lesotho but globally and also with the support of the technical guidance of World Health Organization (WHO), we have been able as the UN to collectively make support to the government of Lesotho in these challenging times,” she explained.
Wabunoha said they thank the USA government and the people of America for their generous donation which will enable them to reach the substantive number of people in the country. “Every time when we get new vaccines, we do not only celebrate but we are now able to reach more and more people,” she noted.