President Lazarus Chakwera has directed the Ministry of Health to secure Covid-19 vaccine doses by August this year.

Malawi has run out of Covid-19 vaccine doses amid a sharp rise in confirmed cases of the pandemic.

Despite the World Bank pumping extra K24 billion for Covid-19 vaccines, the Ministry of Health said it is unsure of exact the date for another consignment.

Speaking on Tuesday in Machinga during the launch of a campaign dubbed ‘Zero Malaria Starts with Me’, President Chakwera blamed some government authorities for not being open minded in addressing the matter.

“Clearly our dependence on donors has left us vulnerable but this is something the ministry should have anticipated,” said Chakwera.

Malawi was expecting to receive a consignment of 900,000 doses at the end of May through the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility.

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo said that batch had been delayed by a recent surge in coronavirus cases in India, the world’s main AstraZeneca supplier.