She says companies can import the vaccines on condition that they will not sell them to the final recipients and that they are those that have been cleared by the World Health Organization for emergency use.
Corporate organizations
willing to vaccinate their staff against COVID-19 can now import in their doses
after the Ministry of Health (MOH) gave them a nod on Thursday.
Speaking to journalists, Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng
said the decision was reached following countless requests by corporate
companies seeking to have their staff vaccinated against the viral respiratory
disease and yet they are not among the special groups so far being targeted.
She says the companies are now free to get the vaccines on
condition that they will not sell them to the final recipients and that they
are those that have been cleared by the World Health Organization for emergency
use.
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The World Health Organisation has so far cleared
four vaccines for emergency, three being the AstraZeneca versions made
in UK, in the Republic of Korea and at the Serum Institute of India. The other is
the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine which hasn’t been widely used by countries in
Africa.
Aceng says companies are free to import even the Pfizer BioNtech
one as long as they fulfill the safety requirements and are approved by the
National Drug Authority. Also, she said
the ministry is finalizing the accreditation procedures to allow private
companies to import the drug for sale.
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However, this development comes amidst warning by experts on
the danger of allowing private individuals trade in a drug that is not yet
approved. In an interview with URN,
Health Policy expert Prof. Freddie Ssengooba said the country risks having
fakes that the regulatory agencies may eventually fail to root out.
He says already in some places, there’s unverified claims of
private dealers selling vaccines.
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The professor says having people privately acquire the drug and get
through approvals by regulators, it is even tougher as sometimes drug
verification doesn’t go through proper provisions.
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Meanwhile, through the free government vaccination exercise that was launched recently, the Ministry reports to have so far vaccinated 32,000 people
who include health workers, teachers, security operatives and the elderly of 70
years and above.
Overall, the government plans to vaccinate a total of 22
million Ugandans. The rest can take the
vaccine through private arrangements that are continuously being cleared.
