COVID-19: Ethiopia to Start Vaccinating on Saturday
ADDIS ABABA – Health officials said they are well prepared to vaccinate ‘prioritized population group’ against COVID-19 as Ethiopia set a date to start vaccination across the nation.
“The COVID-19 vaccination will be officially launched nationally and in all the Regions and City administrations on Saturday, March 13,” said Health Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse, adding the country has already made “extensive preparations to launch the vaccine”.
On the day, Dr. Lia said senior federal and regional government officials will witness the official start of the vaccination against coronavirus which has caused the death of 2, 451 Ethiopians as of Tuesday.
The preparation includes training of health officials, identification of those who should be prioritized and distribution of the 2.2 million doses Ethiopia received from the COVAX facility on Sunday.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, the ministry said, will be provided to prioritized population groups such as “health professionals and workers, elders and those who have chronic illnesses”.
To date, Ethiopia has confirmed more than 168, 300 infections after conducting nearly 2.2mln tests. Over 139, 500 of these patients have already recovered.
