LUSAKA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government said on Friday that it has secured funds to procure 3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines as it tries to ramp up its vaccination program.
Kennedy Malama, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health in charge of Technical Services said the vaccines will be acquired under the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT).
He said in a statement on the COVID-19 update situation that the government has further submitted all the requirements under the COVAX Facility for the 108,000 AstraZeneca vaccine which will be arriving in the country next week.
Zambia has approved five COVID-19 vaccines, among them China's Sinopharm, to be administered to citizens as preventive measures against the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the country has continued to record increased COVID-19 cases and deaths.
According to health ministry figures, the country recorded 2,913 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative cases to 125,157.
The new cases were picked from 12,703 tests done during the period, representing 23 percent positivity while 29 people died, bringing the total deaths to 1,554.
A total of 1,999 patients were discharged from hospital, bringing total recoveries to 103,884.
The country's active cases stand at 19,719 out of whom 18,855 were under community management while 864 were in various isolation facilities. Enditem