We’re ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccination-Health Minister

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Health Minister Fawzia Abikar has said Somalia is ready to roll out the COVID-19 vaccination campaign following the arrival of the much-awaited vaccine in the country Monday.

Speaking after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca from India at Aden Adde Airport, Dr. Abikar said about 2,000 health workers have already been trained to start the vaccination. Health workers, the elderly and vulnerable members of society will be vaccinated first.

“We have strong systems in place to carry out immunization campaigns and enable the safe delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines to frontline workers,” Abikar said. “ The first role out of the vaccine will be a landmark step in Somalia’s fight against COVID-19.”

The vaccination campaign is set to kick off from tomorrow according to the Minister.

The Minister urged all the target groups to avail themselves of the vaccination when reached. “I call on all healthcare workers and people at high-risk who have been prioritized to receive vaccines from this batch so we can protect our health workforce, other frontline workers and high-risk people,” the Minister said in a statement.

She said the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines is ‘happening at a critical time as Somalia is now experiencing a new wave of the epidemic’.

The first batch of 300,000 doses landed in the country today as part of the WHO COVAX programme. The WHO has allocated Somalia to 1.2 million doses.

The minister however called on the public to continue observing all the health guidelines to tame the spread of the disease.