ADDIS ABABA, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopia Agency for Refugees and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) disclosed on Monday it has recently started giving COVID-19 jabs to refugees.
In a press statement, the ARRA disclosed it has over the past one week given Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine jabs to 405 refugees.
"As part of its longstanding tradition of kindness to those who are in dire need, Ethiopia has begun vaccinating Refugees and front-line health professionals in the refugee program," the ARRA disclosed.
The COVID-19 vaccine jabs rollout to refugees is being done in collaboration with various stakeholders including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ethiopia Public Health Institute (EPHI).
Ethiopia is home to 801,349 registered refugees and asylum seekers as of March 2021.
Earlier in March, Ethiopia received its first 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, crucial in the east African country's fight to stop the spread of the pandemic.
COVAX, an international vaccine campaign co-led by the World Health Organization and its partners, aims to speed up the development, production and fair distribution of new COVID-19 vaccines.
Late in March, Ethiopia received another round of COVID-19 vaccine doses. The latest COVID-19 vaccine doses were Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines from China.
Ethiopia has recorded 228,996 COVID-19 cases and 3,174 COVID-19 related deaths as of Monday morning. Enditem
