The acting Minister of Health,  Mr. Motlohi Maliehe on Monday received 60 000 doses of Sinopharm from Sesiu Sa Letšoele Le Beta Poho.
The 60 000 doses of vaccines are expected to vaccinate 30 000 Basotho as each person is expected to have 2 shots.
When receiving the vaccine, Mr. Maliehe thanked the Sesiu Sa Letšoele Le Beta Poho for offering a helping hand in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said vaccine is a major prevention of COVID-19, saying before the invention of vaccines the health care workers suffered the severe impact due to a huge number of COVID-19 patients and lack of resource.
He noted that since commencement of vaccination, the number of COVID-19 patients has decreased. He therefore urged Basotho to vaccinate.
He however mentioned that the vaccine is not compulsory but the Ministry of Health recommends every Mosotho to vaccinate in order to eliminate the chances of being attacked by the virus.
Mr. Maliehe said it is the government aim to fight COVID-19 so to protect Basotho,  saying they are also working on recovering the economy regardless of the COVID-19  interruption.
Handing over the donation, the Chairperson of Sesiu Sa Letsoele Le Beta Poho, Mr. Sam Matekane said SESIU was founded in January 2021 with its mandate to augment the national COVID-19 plan of implementing and distributing vaccines.
He noted that in August 2021, SESIU shipped in 204 000 Sinopharm vaccines donated by the People’s Republic of China, saying SESIU opened its vaccination site and by September 2021 the second vaccine was opened and they have recently opened to all saying every Mosotho is eligible to vaccine.
He said the sites are located at Pioneer mall, Maseru mall, and Mokhotlong Shopping Complex hence urged every Mosotho to take this opportunity to vaccinate, saying each site has vaccinated 15 000 Basotho.
Mr. Matekane expressed gratitude to the small to medium entrepreneurs and individuals, saying all of this should have not been archieved without their pledged members and also thanked the Chinese Embassy for their unwavering support.
He noted that SESIU is also assisting in electronic vaccination cards to avoid lost and fabricated cards.
On the same token, the Director Health Services, Ms Nyane Letsie said as the health care workers it is gratifying to see the Basotho working hand in hand with the government in fight against COVID-19.
She noted that the health care workers have done universal health coverage to reach every Mosotho regardless of their status.
SESIU was establish with the purpose to augment acquisition and roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine program for all private sector corporations that make up the funds consortium.
By Staff Reporter: ‘Maphoka Likotsi