Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has doled out and secretly administered at least 2,500 doses of the highly sought-after single-shot Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Covid-19 vaccines, Saturday Monitor has established.
Officials at the Ministry of Health admitted that the vaccines were administered among some few clerics, and other key government agencies.
The secret deal involving 2,500 doses from the stock of 650,000 jabs procured using taxpayers money, comes at a time when many unvaccinated Ugandans are banking on the very type of the life-saving jabs for convenience reasons.
Dr Alfred Driwale, the head of immunisation programme at the Ministry of Health, told Saturday Monitor on Tuesday that they have ordered National Medical Stores (NMS) to stop more releases of J&J vaccines until a major roll out is permitted by the Ministry.
He admitted that the 2,500 doses were administered in separate days over the last two weeks to some people, including pastors.
“There was a group of pastors who were in a meeting to help in mobilising their followers to take up vaccines. They asked that since they are already in the community, they need a quick protection and single-shot jab could work for them,” he said.
“So, we got the doses (from NMS) and once we covered that group, we stopped there. We did that as a public relations stance. These are people who are high profile and they command huge followers and churches are open. They took the vaccines earlier and another group took the vaccines last week at Makerere University hospital,” he added.
Issue
The report that some doses of J&J have been utilised came as a big surprise to many Ugandans because the NMS, the government agency mandated to buy, store and distribute medicines and vaccines had in the last weeks insisted that not a single dose of Johnson and Johnson had been released.
But the agency later came out this week, admitting that the vaccines were given out but for a “pilot” when confronted with evidence that some category of people were getting Johnson and Johnson shots secretly.
The new pronouncement by NMS also followed a revelation by Health minister, Dr Jane Aceng last Friday that the vaccines were actually used in Kampala, contrary to earlier communication from the same ministry that the vaccines would be used in islands and other hard-to-reach places.
Giving out vaccines secretly to pastors is happening barely four months after the same ministry in July gifted city businessman, Mr Hamis Kiggundu, thousands of doses of donated Covid-19 vaccines for his workers and tenants.
Dr Aceng told MPs last week that the government and development partners have already provided up to Shs619b for national Covid-19 vaccination.
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