MBABANE: Bheki Mamba, the President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) said as a union they intend to engage government over the proposed purchasing the controversial AstraZeneca vaccine.
This comes after an announcement by Senator Themba Masuku, the Acting Prime Minister that the vaccine would be delivered in the country by the end of the week.He also revealed that the presence of the South African variant in the country was at 88 %.
Speaking to this Swaziland News, the SWADNU President said the statistics were alarming and a dialogue was needed to clear the air on new research information and myths surrounding COVID 19 vaccines.
“We are related with South Africa, so when a disease hits their shores it will also definitely hit us.Since studies have shown that the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine is low against the South African variant, we need to find a vaccine that will be highly effective. This vaccine can also perform better alongside a booster vaccine, this is one of the things that need to be discussed. What would happen if a majority of health workers were to refuse to take the vaccine due to its low efficacy? Government needs to engage us so we can find the best solutions around this problem”, he said.
When reached for comments, Dr Simon Zwane, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of health said there was a virtual meeting for all health workers scheduled this coming Friday.
“There is a webinar for health workers scheduled for this coming Friday on the COVID vaccine. I will share the flier when available”, said the Principal Secretary.
Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi