A medical worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a recipient in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 13, 2021. Ethiopian State Minister of Health Dereje Duguma disclosed on Saturday that the east African country plans to give COVID-19 vaccine jabs to 20 percent of its population by March 2022. Duguma disclosed the plan during a ceremony in Addis Ababa to officially start COVID-19 vaccine jabs in the country. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
ADDIS ABABA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian State Minister of Health, Dereje Duguma disclosed on Saturday that the east African country plans to give COVID-19 vaccine jabs to 20 percent of its population by March 2022.
Duguma disclosed the plan during a ceremony in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa to officially start COVID-19 vaccine jabs in the country.
"The Ethiopian government is working to give COVID-19 vaccine jabs to 20 percent of its population by March 9, 2022," Duguma disclosed.
"In the first phase, the COVID-19 vaccine jabs will be prioritized to sections of Ethiopian society that are engaged in COVID-19 contracting risk occupations, as well as those that are at risk of developing severe illnesses due to the disease," said Duguma.
Ethiopia confirmed its first case of COVID-19 exactly a year ago.
Ethiopia is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
Boureima H. Sambo, World Health Organization Representative (WHO) Ethiopia Representative, for his part said the development and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has raised hopes, Ethiopia and the world in general, will win the battle against the global pandemic.
Sambo also said the launch of Ethiopia's COVID-19 vaccine jab rollout is an important milestone to help rebuild the east African country's battered economy.
"Today's national launch is an important milestone in the fight against COVID-19 and will allow Ethiopia to reboot its economy and build back better," he said.
Sambo also said despite all recent successes in fighting the spread of COVID-19, the battle to win over the pandemic is far from over.
"Over the past weeks, we have been observing an alarming increase in the number of cases. Also concerning is the increase in the number of severe cases of COVID-19 requiring intensive care, threatening the existing capacities and increasing the risk of overwhelming the health system," Sambo further said.
Sambo also called on the public not to be complacent in adhering to COVID-19 public health guidelines.
"We must all remember that vaccines are only one of the tools in the fight against COVID-19 and not a replacement for the other proven public health prevention measures such as physical distancing, proper use of masks, hand hygiene and ventilating spaces," he said.
Ethiopia received its first 2.2 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX scheme last Sunday.
COVAX, officially known as the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, is a global collaboration that aims to speed up the development, production and fair distribution of new COVID-19 vaccines.
