Namibia: N$2m Left of Covid-19 Budget

Only N$2 million is left of the government’s Covid-19 budget, although the health ministry maintains funding is available for the vaccine rollout.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the finance ministry made available N$727 million specifically to fight the pandemic, and to date, the ministry only has 0,3% of the total funds still available.

Health minister Kalumbi Shangula maintains that the funds left are still sufficient for the Covid-19 fight, and treasury is set to allocate more funds in the next budget announcement.

The minister could not reveal the government’s vaccination rollout plan or how much the government planned to spend on the vaccines, the rollout plan and if there is a specific budget meant for Covid-19 vaccines.

“This [Covid-19] vaccination rollout plan will be funded through the already established vaccination programme in the ministry. […] I do not have the exact figures right now but it will be funded through that programme,” he said.

Namibia is expecting its first doses of the Covid-19 vaccines from the Covax facility by the end of this week. To date, the government has paid N$29 million for the vaccine.

Initially, the first payment was for Namibia to get vaccines for 20% of the population or 508 200 people.

The government also signed a Financial Commitment Agreement on 5 November 2020 for the remaining US$9 096 780 (roughly N$140,2 million).

Medical aid funds agreed to pay for the Covid-19 vaccine on behalf of their members, said Namibian Association of Medical Aid Funds.

The costs of the logistics of the Covid-19 vaccine are yet to be determined.

The impact of the rollout remains unknown, although discussions around the procurement are ongoing.

Private medical aid funds in Namibia cover about 8% of the population, which represents roughly 200 000 citizens.

At least 60% of the population needs to be vaccinated to achieve a sufficient level of herd immunity.

VACCINES

Namibia is expected to receive the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine by Saturday through the Covax facility.

The country is set to receive over 127 200 doses after the World Health Organisation gave it the green light for emergency use.

Meanwhile, the Namibia Medical Regulatory Council has not yet approved the vaccine for use in the country and is busy with the necessary guidance and regulatory oversight.

Last week, China donated an additional 100 000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Namibia.

The health ministry is busy with the logistical arrangements to get the vials in the country.

Vaccines developed by Chinese companies Sinopharm and Sinovac are already being rolled out globally.

Apart from the Covax Facility, Namibia is in discussion with governments and manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines in countries such as China, the Russian Federation, India and the United States of America to secure additional vaccine supplies to cover the remaining 40% of the population.

Shangula said all the vaccines that are currently available are acceptable to Namibia.

“The choice of the vaccine takes into consideration the availability of the vaccine, cold chain imperatives and of course the cost, among others,” he said.

WHO Africa urged governments to focus more on setting up systems to manage the logistics and supply chain for vaccines, reaching refugees, migrants and internally displaced people and financing national vaccination campaigns.

COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS

In the last two months, Namibia has recorded 203 Covid-19 related deaths as the country has been experiencing a downward trend since January.

This averaged 25 deaths per week or four per day in January.

Namibia recorded the highest number of deaths on 6 January when 13 were recorded.

The country has been recording deaths consistently this month except for three days.

Despite an overall drop in the number of Covid-19 cases, Shangula last week expressed concern that the number of deaths had increased, surpassing the estimated figures. The estimates were that by next month, the deaths linked to Covid-19 would be 338, however, by 17 February, Namibia had recorded 394 deaths.

“Although the number of deaths is high, other figures, such as those related to the projected number of infections, hospitalisation and case severity, have not been exceeded,” Shangula added.

As of yesterday, the country had 37 896 confirmed cases, 35 419 recoveries and 411 deaths linked to Covid-19.

The government will this morning announce new regulations after the status quo was extended to today.

Part of the expiring regulations include the curfew which is from 22h00 to 05h00 daily. Other regulations, such as those pertaining to the number of people at public gatherings at 50, as well as restrictions relating to the sale of alcohol, and the wearing of masks.

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) country director Dr Eric Dziuban said there has been an increase in new Covid-19 cases over the last couple of weeks. However, he is encouraged by the overall decrease in cases during the first six weeks of 2021.

“It is important that we do not leave the job of defeating Covid-19 half done, or we will end up with a third wave right away that nobody wants. Now is the time that we can prevent that before things get out of control,” he said.

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