Executive Director in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Ben Nangombe said there is no secrecy in the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

“What we need to take note of is that issues of strategy when dealing with our stakeholders should not be confused with secrecy or lack of transparency; we are committed and we do practice transparency but this is done at appropriate times,” said Nangombe.

He said this while responding to questions by the media during the 28th COVID-19 briefing in Windhoek on Friday.

He explained that reporting is done when specific milestones are reached, adding that this should be accorded respect otherwise they would not be running their institutions efficiently and effectively.

“In September last year after having gone through the initial budget of N.dollars 727 million we prepared an accountability report tabled before Cabinet and Cabinet had to go through this report and directed that the report be audited by the Office of the Auditor General, which was done. This is the process that was established and we are complying with this process, so there should not be any insinuation that we are practicing any secrecy,” he said.

Nangombe went on to say Namibia has spent about N.dollars 31.4 million on COVID-19 vaccines as well as on the vaccination process, including funding from development cooperation partners in the private sector and of this total, N.dollars 26.8 million has gone directly to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

The ED further stated that Namibia is expecting to receive 150 000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in June and via the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust, Namibia is also expecting to receive 250 000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by August this year.

In addition to the 43 200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine received on 21 May 2021, the country will further receive the remaining 40 800 doses in the coming months.

Regarding the Sputnik vaccine, Nangombe added that negotiations have proceeded well and Namibia may be getting this vaccine in about two months.

Source: Namibia Press Agency