July 26, 2021
By Ilyasa Baa
The expiration of about 40,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the African Union (AU) has put authorities in Sierra Leone on their toes finding a fast track method to have more doses reach the country by early August.
Chairman of Nacoverc, Sheku Fatamadi Bangura has said the intervention of President Bio through his diplomatic connection has yielded fruit as over 96, 000 doses are due to land in the country.
He said the Ministry of Health and Sanitation has reached out to the Global Agency for Vaccination (GAVI) for more vaccines to reach Sierra Leone. He noted that over 135,000 people have taken their first dose and over 32,000 taken their second dose.
The Chairman expressed concern over the decrease in the number of people taking the jab. He recommended that more engagements have to be carried out by stakeholders including religious leaders to raise awareness on the need for people to take the vaccines.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leoneans are waiting to hear which message is going to come out from Nacoverc at the end of the one month. Relaxing the restrictions considering that the cases are going down will be welcome news to members of the public.
Nacoverc is expected to change its strategy over vaccine hesitancy to flatten the curve in the fight against the pandemic.