Ethiopia will launch the second-round of rolling out the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the upcoming months, Ministry of Health says.
As COVID-19 in Ethiopia has been consistently on the rise and triggering calls for more robust measures to halt spread of the virus, the government is taking various measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic, it was indicated.
Following the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Ethiopia in March 2020, the Government of Ethiopia took several public health measures and protocols to prevent increased levels of infection.
Despite the government’s ongoing interventions and protocols, the AstraZeneca Sino Farm vaccines are being given which have been licensed by Ethiopian Food and Drug Administration (EFDA).
Currently, some priority groups are receiving the vaccine and according to the Ministry of Health, 470,000 people have so far been vaccinated in the first-round of vaccination program.
Health State Minister, Saharala Abdullahi said preparations are currently underway to launch a second round of COVID-19 immunization program.
According to her, “It is expected that 5.5 million doses of vaccine will be received from donor countries.”
There is plan to import 20 million vaccines to Ethiopia until the upcoming November 2021.