‘South Sudan lacks logistics to bring COVID-19 vaccine’

South Sudan will wait slightly longer for the logistical arrangements to be ironed out to have the COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

On Tuesday, the acting director of South Sudan’s Public Health Emergency Operative Centre Dr Angelo Goup Thon said the country was most likely to receive its vaccine in mid-March if all the requirements would be met.

“We were supposed to have the vaccine in the country by mid-February, [there has been lack of] logistical procedures [which involves] shipping it to the country to make sure the arrangement is done,’’ Dr. Thon revealed on Tuesday evening, during an interview with a local radio station.

Last month, the ministry of health and the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed in a joint press conference that South Sudan would receive 30 to 40 per cent of the over 800,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine before the end of February.

The Coordinator of COVAX Dinceen Brendan told the media via zoom meeting that the COVAX facility had written to them communicating the impending shipment of the vaccines.

“We have been given indications that 35 to 40 per cent of the 864,000 dozen will be in the first charge   and subsequently that the reminder would come at a later point,” Brendan said.

At the time, Dr John Romunu also said that the facility earlier had submitted vaccine deployment plan to the COVAX facility for approval

“We are happy to tell you that we received positive feedback from the COVAX facility and we are waiting for further guidance and the most important thing is that the vaccine has been approved,” he said.

It is over one month since the ministry revealed that the country had applied for the vaccine. On February 8, 2021, Dr Romunu broke the news that the country had merited the first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines.

“I am happy to inform you that we have met all the requirements and we have received information from COVAX that there are 864,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine which has been allocated to South Sudan and depending on the process South Sudan will be able to receive this consignment latest by end of February,” Rumunu told journalists in Juba.

But the country’s jabs are yet to land at the Juba International Airport despite its neighbours like Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia rolling out the inoculation.