Botswana’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic received another boost on Sunday after the country received more than 404,000 doses of the Chinese-manufactured Sinovac vaccine.

The government announced it has received 404,494 doses purchased from Sinovac Biotech Company through a bilateral arrangement.

“Communication on the roll out of this consignment will be made next week as ministry will be resuming its vaccination roll out program which is currently at Phase two level of the National Vaccine Deployment Plan,” the government said.

Botswana has so far reported 159,317 COVID-19 infections with 2,276 fatalities.

The Southern African country rolled out its mass vaccination drive in March, initially targeting those considered to be at high risk, including the elderly, healthcare workers and people with underlying conditions.

By Sunday, more than 337,000 vaccine doses had been administered, with over 215,000 people fully vaccinated.

𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐂 𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐄

Government of Botswana this afternoon received 404 494 doses of the Sinovac vaccine. The vaccine doses have been purchased from Sinovac Biotech Company in China through a bilateral arrangement. pic.twitter.com/i6EcwcSz7j

— Botswana Government (@BWGovernment) September 5, 2021