Botswana has launched an investigation into the death of two people after taking the AstraZeneca vaccine, the country’s health ministry said on Monday.
In a statement, the ministry said the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BOMRA) is investigating the death of two adults after they took doses of the vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
“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 said.
The doses in question are part of 30,000 donated by SII last month. The country is also administering another batch of 33,000 AstraZeneca doses manufactured in South Korea.
Neighbouring South Africa stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine in February after studies showed that the drug was not very effective on a COVID-19 variant common in the country.
JN/APA