Ethiopia faces a critical shortage of second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as authorities find themselves in a difficult position to complete the regimen of millions of people who have already received the first dose.

The Ministry of Health first rolled out its COVID-19 vaccination programme three months ago and almost two million people have received their first AstraZeneca dose since then.

As things currently stand, if all people who have received their first AstraZeneca dose are to get their second shots, there simply would not be enough to go around.

The government acquired 2.18 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in early March and with the time for second shots edging closer and stocks running dry, 1.68 million people are likely to have to wait for more vaccines to come in, possibly missing the appointments set by health professionals during the first round of doses.

Ethiopia received the first shipment doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX facility, a project launched by the World Health Organisation, the European Commission and France to boost equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments and vaccines. Later, by the end of March, the Chinese government donated 300,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.

The second shipment of 5.4 million AstraZeneca doses was expected to arrive last month, however, due to the halt in the production of the vaccine, the shipment never materialised.

Rolling out began on March 13, 2021, initially targeting medical professionals. So far, over 311,000 medical professionals have received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Vaccination for the second recipient groups commenced a few weeks afterward, prioritising the elderly above the age of 65 and those with underlying medical conditions. In this manner, about 1.93 million people received their first jabs of AstraZeneca, while more than 4,300 people have so far received the Sinopharm vaccine.

Sinopharm on the other hand has been administered in Addis Abeba only to media personnel and public transport drivers. Next in line are people whose work involves interactions with lots of people, exposing them to the virus. These include people at banks, the Mayor's Office, and the Document Authentication & Registration Agency and others, according to Yohannes Lakew, maternal and child health assistance director and vaccination programme coordinator at the Ministry.

As the second round of doses for early recipient medical professionals is due to begin next week, the government is undergoing the necessary preparatory work. It plans to wait for more doses to arrive while providing second shots to as many people as possible.

The Ministry is trying to acquire vaccines through several means. Negotiations to acquire vaccines from the COVAX facility, through the African Union's vaccine platform, from foreign government donations, and direct purchase from suppliers are underway. Additionally, the Ministry is looking into means to allow private entities to import vaccinations, according to Yohannes. With that, more doses are expected to be acquired in the coming months, he added.