The Minister of Health announced Tuesday the creation of a platform composed of the government and private sector companies for the procurement of more vaccines against covid-19as part of the country's efforts to stop the pandemic.

This is a "common platform, involving private sector companies and the Government, for the collective procurement of vaccines," explained Armindo Tiago, during a press conference at the Presidency of the Republic, moments after a Council of Ministers session.

According to the governor, by May 31, at least 350 companies were involved in the initiative and the contributions collected were enough for the purchase of about 500 thousand doses of vaccines.

"Of these 500 thousand doses, 120 thousand doses would be used by the Government and the remainder distributed to companies," Armindo Tiago declared.

By the end of this year, the Mozambican authorities expect to receive about six million vaccines against the new coronavirus, in a plan that aims to cover 16 million people by next year, according to the Ministry of Health, which admits, however, difficulties due to high demand.

The immunization plan will be done with the support of the Covax mechanism, through which Mozambique will cover 20% of the population, and the complementary direct purchase mechanism that will cover the remainder.

The Health Minister reiterated the need for the population to reinforce preventive measures in case of a possible third wave, considering that the authorities have already prepared a response plan.

"The third wave is more severe in terms of the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths," he warned.