Cabinet approves procurement of 18 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, re-opening of education institutions to non-candidate learners Cabinet also approves proposal to borrowing for devt and infrastructure

Cabinet has approved the procurement of 18 million doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute in India which will be used to vaccinate persons from the age of 50 years and above, persons with underlying health complications, health workers, security personnel, teachers, among other essential workers.

According to a statement from the Ministry ICT and National Guidance, “Each eligible individual will receive two doses separated by 28 days and each dose costs US$7, which amounts to 14 per person.”

“The COVAX facility managed by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) has communicated to Government of Uganda, a tentative allocation of 3,552,000 doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine due by end of February or beginning of March 2021,” the statement also says.

At the same time, Cabinet has also approved the recommendation to re-open education institutions to non-candidate learners, however, pre-primary schools remain closed because “Learners in this category cannot observe SOPs and are prone to respiratory infections including COVID-19, and in addition, most of the pre-primary schools are day and therefore, there is a lot of interface between the Learners, teachers and Parents hence increasing the risk of infection.”

Govt borrowing

The Cabinet has also approved the proposal to borrow US$166m and Euro200m from the African Export Import Bank (AFREXIM) and Euro 200m from Trade and Development to finance the development and infrastructure budget for the FY 2020/21.

Below attached is the full statement from the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance