Authorities at the Ministry of Health says 50,000 Liberians have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19.
The Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Francis Kateh, told a local radio in Monrovia Thursday that those who received their first doses of the vaccine in April will complete their vaccination in June.
Dr. Kateh said the current trend of vaccine being rolled out is from the COVAX Initiative under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
He clarified that the extra twenty-six thousand doses of the Covid-19 vaccine given to the Country by the African Union was not administered due to its short life span.
Meanwhile,Dr. Francis Kateh said Health facilities across the Country have benefited their first quarterly medical supply as part of the provision routine health services.
Dr. Kateh lamented that the supply also targets some private health facilities that are in partnership with the Government.
In a related development,the second round of the nationwide polio vaccination campaign is expected to take place later this week.
According to the Health ministry, WHO requires two doses of oral polio vaccine to get fully immunized.
Speaking in with journalists in an interview on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, WHO Vaccine Consultant to Liberia, Dr. Maima Baysah, said:” The immunization exercise will witness more than nine-hundred-thousand children being vaccinated.”
Dr. Baysah, however, quoted WHO Environmental Surveillance as saying that several countries are considered high-risk polio centers, including Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
She added that a survey is, meanwhile, being conducted by the Ministry of Health to know the affected population that needs to be vaccinated.
She said that WHO, in collaboration with UNICEF and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has exerted frantic efforts in ensuring that children are vaccinated in targeted areas.
