Namibia run out of COVID-19 budget

By Shelleygan Petersen, WINDHOEK, Namibia

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

Health minister Kalumbi Shangula 

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.

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

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