‘We have 30 doses… we need two million’: The mountain kingdom left behind in the race to vaccinate the world
There is an old, corrugated hanger in the centre of Maseru, the diminutive capital of the kingdom of Lesotho and through the doors we could hear the words of prayer.
Inside, amongst the wings and tails of several brightly coloured aeroplanes, there were medics and mechanics getting themselves ready for the day ahead.
Lesotho’s Flying Doctor Services serve 11 isolated clinics in this rugged and impoverished nation.
The government-run unit is assisted by a Christian charity called the Mission Aviation Fellowship and together they provide medical services and emergency treatment to communities that are completely inaccessible by road.
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The flying doctors unit, helped by a Christian charity, delivers a small batch of vaccines to a community called Kuebunyani
Yet the team that runs this service has been presented with a new and weighty task.
As COVID-19 spreads and mutates in southern Africa, its members have been asked to deliver and administer vaccines to much of the nation.
Lesotho acquired a batch of 36,000 AstraZeneca vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX facility in March and health workers were prioritised for their first dose.
The French government donated an additional consignment to ensure they are fully protected but the vast majority of 2.2 million Basothos have yet to receive a vaccine.
The flying doctors are doing what they can and we followed them for the day as they delivered a small batch of vaccines to a community called Kuebunyani.
It was a complicated trip as the pilot had to pick up a box of AstraZeneca vaccines in another community, called Thaba Tskeko. Its hospital still had a few vials left.
Flying Doctor Services’ medic, Dr Justin Cishiya, talks to Sky’s John Sparks
“How many vaccines have you got now,” I asked the Flying Doctor Services medic, Dr Justin Cishiya.
“For now we are having 30 doses.”
“How many are you going to need in total?”
“In total, we will need, let me estimate, two million doses.”
We strapped our precious box in the back of the plane and headed east in the direction of Kuebunyani.
Kuebunyani clings to the slopes of the Maloti range and the pilot had to negotiate its rudimentary airstrip
This district of some 10,000 people clings to the slopes of the Maloti range and the pilot had to negotiate its rudimentary airstrip.
Our cargo was then handed over to a nurse called Paul Enock.
“How many people have been vaccinated here so far?” I asked.
Lesotho’s Flying Doctor Services serve 11 isolated clinics in the rugged and impoverished nation
“So far 73, yes, mostly the village health workers and the health centre committee and some of our staff members.”
“You are going to need a lot more,” I said.
“Yes, especially for the people (who live) here, yes.”
Lesotho acquired a batch of 36,000 AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX scheme
It may be an isolated spot but the message has gone out about COVID-19 as the third wave of infection begins to take hold in Africa.
Cases are on an upward trend in 14 countries and in the past week, new cases rose by more than 30% in eight countries.
In Kuebunyani, we watched as local residents begin to congregate. Some had left their homes the day before to reach the clinic.
One doctor said Lesotho needs an estimated two million vaccines
I stopped a 77-year old called Frank Molefi.
“Why do you want to get a COVID vaccine?” I asked.
“It is you (the health workers) who told me to come here,” he said, bursting into laughter.
“Do you think the virus could come here to the mountains?”
People in Kuebunyani receive the vaccine
“Here? Of course, it will come here because human beings live here.”
Several village health workers, a local official and a handful of senior citizens with chronic conditions were offered these precious vaccines and one man told us he felt fortunate to receive one.
The supply of vaccines to Africa has ground to a halt with the India-based makers of the AstraZeneca vaccine now concentrating production at home.
The distribution of Johnson & Johnson vaccines has been blocked after a batch was contaminated in the United States.
Sky News understands there are one million J&J vaccines “ready to be shipped within an hour” from a factory in neighbouring South Africa but the manufacturer cannot get clearance to move them.
Only 1% of the public has been inoculated in sub-Saharan Africa
In response the World Health Organisation and others are pleading with wealthy nations to move immediately and donate their stocks.
Seven countries have said they will make contributions via COVAX but only France has actually delivered the goods.
As we left Kuebunyani we asked an administrative nurse, Mampho Leleka, what she thought of the discrepancy in vaccines between rich and poor countries.
“We are not comfortable, it is not fair at all. It has to be rolled out as (quickly) as possible because this pandemic is killing people.”
This mountain kingdom – like much of Africa – has been left behind in the race to vaccinate the public.
Only 1% of the public has been inoculated in sub-Saharan Africa. But this shapeshifting virus is encircling the world and the protection of Basothos should become everyone’s responsibility.
Countries in South and Southeast Asia have been coping with a weeks-long heatwave which has seen record temperatures sweep parts of the region.
Pupils in the Philippines, India and Bangladesh have been told to stay at home and learn remotely due to a severe health risk.
Schools in Cambodia have also cut back on their hours.
Cambodia faces its hottest temperature in 170 years, according to meteorologists – as high as 43C (109F).
Bangkok in Thailand has reached 40C (104 F), but the heat index is said to have topped 50 C (122 F) due to the heat being trapped among the mass of buildings.
The United Nations Children’s Fund warned in April that the heat could put the lives of millions of children at risk and asked people who care for them to take extra precautions.
A spokesperson for UNICEF said around 243 million children were exposed to hotter and longer heatwaves.
A woman drinks from a public tap in India. Pic: AP
They said the increased heat was “putting them at risk of a multitude of heat-related illnesses, and even death”.
Thirty people in Thailand have died from heatstroke in the past month, according to data from the country’s health ministry.
People are being advised to avoid outdoor activities and to stay hydrated.
Several towns in Myanmar were included on lists of the hottest spots globally last month, with temperatures reaching 48.2C (118F) in at least one case.
People stock up on water in India. Pic: AP
Parts of eastern India also experienced their hottest April on record.
Kerala, on India’s west coast, this week instructed all schools and colleges to close until Monday, while influencers in Bangladesh have encouraging people to plant trees in response to the record heat.
Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said there were three factors for heatwaves: a naturally-occurring climate phenomenon known as El Nino, an increase in global temperatures, and human-induced climate change.
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Brazil is currently experiencing another climate phenomenon – La Nina – with 39 dead and 68 missing in floods across the country.
More than 24,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the flooding.
Scientists believe the naturally-occurring phenomenon has intensified due to the impact of climate change.
China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.
Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.
“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.
“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”
Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine Coastguard, told Sky News that China is a ‘bully’
The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.
The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.
The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.
Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.
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Sky witnesses China-Philippine confrontation
The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.
It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.
Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.
China’s coastguard fired water at Philippine coastguard vessel BRP Bagacay while Sky was onboard
He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.
“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.
Read more:
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China building airstrip on disputed island, satellite images suggest
Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.
The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.
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“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.
Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.
Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.
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