Botswana is probing the death of two people among thousands who received doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to determine if their deaths were linked to the shots.
According to the health ministry, AstraZeneca vaccine is the only vaccine the country has started rolling out and so far it has administered
about 31,000 doses.
Botswana bought 33,000 doses that were made in South Korea from global vaccine distribution scheme COVAX while India donated 30,000 doses of the vaccine that were manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
The two people who died had taken the shots made in India.
There was no immediate response from AstraZeneca and the SII.
The two deaths were of elderly people, The Botswana health ministry said in a statement late on Sunday without elaboration.
The AstraZeneca doses were made in India and are being distributed under the brand name COVISHIELD.
The chair of the European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s safety committee, Sabine Straus, said received reports of 169 cases of the rare brain blood clot by early April, after 34 million doses had been administered.
Nevertheless, millions of doses of the AstraZeneca shot have been safely administered around the world.
The statement by the health ministry said, “The ministry has referred the matter to the regulator being BOMRA for immediate investigation. It is expected that BOMRA investigation will seek to establish the cause of two deaths as well as whether they are in any way linked to the COVID vaccine which was administered.”
The ministry further advised that people recovering from recent severe illness should consider delaying getting the vaccine.
So far, Botswana has recorded around 40,000 coronavirus cases and 630 deaths during the pandemic.
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