Government has said it will proceed with its plans to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine which is schedule to be in the country by the end of this despite concerns raised by the South African government that the vaccine is not efficient to its Covid-19 variant.

Yesterday the BBC reported that the Rainbow Nation has put on hold the vaccination exercise after finding out that the vaccine is not responsive to its variant.

On Sunday, President Lazarus Chakwera said the country is ready for the vaccine roll out which is expected to carter at least 20 percent of the population.

Following the concerns raised regarding the vaccine, government through the Ministry of Health and the Covid-19 Presidential Taskforce, has said it will stick to its plans of securing the vaccine.

In his remarks, Minister of Information Gospel Kazako says the decision whether to use AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine or not will not be an individual one but will be based on science findings.

Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda says government has a special experts group that has been advising it in the process of settling for AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

She said the medical experts in the group have been active even before the country registered its first Covid-19 case.