President Lazarus Chakwera and his Vice will lead the nation on Thursday as the country starts vaccinating its citizens with the covid19 vaccine. According to a statement issued by the office of the President and cabinet , the President will get the Covid-19 jab at Zomba Field Hospital while Vice President Saulos Chilima will be vaccinated in Mzuzu to mark the launch of the vaccine administration.
The first consignment of the Covid-19 Vaccine has arrived in the country. on friday last week . Khumbize Chiponda, has emphasized the need for every Malawian to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a means of combating the disease.
Currently, the Covid19 positivity rate stands at 8.05 percent. This comes as in the past 24 hours, Malawi has registered 59 new cases of Covid-19 – representing 8.05 percent. According to Khumbize Chiponda Kandodo- minister of health who is also co- chairperson of the President Taskforce on Covid-19, 586 people have recovered from Covid-19.
She said as the vaccination program starts, the President and his vice will be vaccinated. Malawi received COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped via the COVAX Facility, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO. This is a historic step towards the goal of COVAX to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally, in what will be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history.
The delivery is part of a first wave of arrivals in Africa, and the first tranche of allocations for Malawi that will take place in the coming months and year through the Covax Facility. The Covax Facility shipped 360,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from Serum Institute of India from Mumbai, India, to Lilongwe. The arrival in Lilongwe marked a milestone for Malawi in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic which has claimed over 1000 lives and created a heavy burden on health facilities.
