Ver Angola

Health

Country acquires single-dose vaccines for nomadic southern tribes

The Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, said that the country will receive five million vaccines from Johnson and Johnson (single dose) to administer, among others, to nomadic populations of the southern tribes.

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Speaking at the Paz Flor vaccination center in Luanda, which began administering part of the 50,000 doses brought by the Portuguese presidential delegation on Thursday, Sílvia Lutucuta explained that the country hopes to receive a large order from Pfizer, via the African Union, and five million from Johnson and Johnson, the latter being given according to the mobility of populations.

"The degree of population mobility is also an important factor in deciding what type of vaccine we will administer. For these people we will prioritize the Johnson and Johnson vaccine," she explained.

In the south, in the provinces of Cunene and Namibe, relevant nomadic populations of the Khoisan and Hereros tribes still reside, who will have to be subject to specific vaccination programs.

But this option for a single dose "is not only in southern Angola, also here in Luanda," said the minister, referring to people who do not have a fixed residence.

The minister also criticized the imbalance in access to vaccines in the poorest and developing countries. "We continue, with all African countries and beyond, in the fight and race for access to vaccines", he said, recalling the warning of the World Health Organization (WHO) that "only 10 percent of countries had more than 75 percent of the doses" available.

"We continue to fight for equity in access to vaccines. We are mobilizing resources and we want to have access to vaccines" in order to "achieve group immunity".

The minister refused to talk about the selfishness of the richest countries, but considered that the difference in production capacity and financial resources unbalanced the balance.

"Each country does the best it can. I believe that is the assumption, but there is a great movement and international awareness to have equity in access to vaccines", she said, believing that, "from August, the picture will change" .

Throughout this period, "we will continue to work towards having access to vaccines, with bilateral contacts and multilateral agencies", she summarized.

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