MINISTRY of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Dr Kennedy Malama says the country’s cumulative usage of vaccines now stands at 523,895 out of the 977, 600 vaccines received.

And Dr Malama has urged citizens to remain prepared for possible COVID-19 spikes and future waves through sustained investment in various pillars of response.

In a statement, Monday, Dr Malama said 206 dose one, 245 dose two AstraZeneca vaccinations, as well as, 1,294 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine were administered in the last 24 hours.

“In the last 24 hours, we administered 206 Dose one and 245 Dose two AstraZeneca vaccinations as well as 1,294 doses of Johnson and Johnson. The breakdown of the cumulative vaccinations by vaccine type is as follows: 307,931 dose 1 vaccinations (301,032 AstraZeneca and 6,899 Sinopharm) and 215,964 fully vaccinated [i.e. 106,057 dose 2 AstraZeneca (35 percent of those that received dose 1); 103,571 Johnson and Johnson, and 6,336 dose 2 Sinopharm (92 percent of those that received dose 1)]. Our cumulative usage of the 977,600 vaccines received to date now stands at 523,895 with a conservative wastage rate of four percent,” Dr Malama said.

“Globally, a 21 percent decline in new COVID-19 cases was recorded compared to two days ago. In the last 24 hours, 469,864 new cases and 8,148 deaths were recorded globally with the highest burden of new cases being from Asia (54 percent); followed by Europe (21 percent); North America (14 percent); Africa (six percent) and South-America (five percent). As a country we are delighted that the COVID-19 positive trajectory has continued and we are optimistic that we will continue building on this. However, we are also cognizant of the current risk we face which can facilitate spikes particularly with laxity in complying with the prescribed public health and social measures. We reiterate our call to members of the public to remember that COVID-19 is still with us hence the imperative of not becoming complacent. We continue rolling out the vaccination program and we hope to see heightened uptake in coming days.”

And Dr Malama said the country had recorded 168 new COVID-19 cases out of 3,503 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.

He said the cumulative number of confirmed cases recorded to date now stood at 202,429.

“In the last 24 hours, we recorded 168 new confirmed COVID-19 cases out of 3,503 tests (4.8 percent positivity). The distribution of the new cases and within province positivity are as follows: Central 29 (nine percent), Copperbelt 12 (six percent), Eastern seven (two percent), Luapula 24 (seven percent), Lusaka 6 (one percent), Muchinga 27 (18 percent), Northern 21 (four percent), North-western 36 (22 percent), Southern three (one percent), and Western three (14 percent). The cumulative number of confirmed cases recorded to date now stands at 202,429,” Dr Malama said.

He said the country had also recorded nine new COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours.

“Nine new COVID-19 related deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, from North-western four, Luapula two, Copperbelt one, Eastern one, and Lusaka one provinces. The cumulative number of COVID-19 related deaths recorded to date now stands at 3,538 (classified as 2,655 COVID-19 deaths and 883 COVID-19 associated deaths),” Dr Malama said.

“We discharged 475 patients (10 from facilities and 465 from community management), bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 196,352 (97 percent recovered). We currently have 2,539 active cases, with 2,324 (92 percent) under community management and 215 (eight percent) admitted to our COVID-19 isolation facilities. We had 18 new admissions in the last 24hours. Among those currently admitted, 144 (67 percent) are on oxygen therapy and 51 (24 percent) are in critical condition.”

Dr Malama said people should be prepared for possible spikes and future COVID-19 waves.

“We commend members of the public for recognizing the risks posed by COVID-19 and urge them not to relent in adhering to the various preventive measures. It is therefore critical that as a collective we remain prepared for possible spikes and future waves through sustained investment in various pillars of our response while amplifying the importance of adhering to the prescribed public health preventive measures. Together we can and we will defeat COVID-19,” said Dr Malama.