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News > World

WHO Urges Donor Support For Distributing Vaccines In Uganda

  • Ambassador Zhang Lizhong (L) and Health Minister Margaret Muhanga (R), Uganda, Oct. 19, 2021.

    Ambassador Zhang Lizhong (L) and Health Minister Margaret Muhanga (R), Uganda, Oct. 19, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @PRC_Amb_Uganda

Published 20 October 2021
Opinion

This African country aims to vaccinate about 22 million people in order to open up its economy.

On Tuesday, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Yonas Woldemariam said donors need to support the distribution of vaccines to remote áreas in Uganda.

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"We need support to take the vaccines to the districts for health workers to be able to do the vaccination, for monitoring, for looking into the adverse effects. All these things require funding and yes the government of Uganda has allocated some funds but the requirement is far higher," Woldemariam said at a ceremony on which Uganda received a second batch of the Sinovac vaccine donated by the Chinese government.

This donation "came at a time when the two countries marked the 59th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between them and is part of China's commitment to build a global community of health for all," China's Ambassador Zhang Lizhong said.

The Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization Director Alfred Driwale explained that distribution of vaccines is costly since donations are made in small quantities, which forces trucks to make many return trips.

He also commented that health workers must be retrained each time vaccines are received as each brand has specific application and cooling requirements. This training involves expenses that are very onerous for developing countries.

Uganda has so far received 6.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. As of Saturday, about 2.6 million doses have so far been administered, according to ministry of health figures.

The country aims to vaccinate about 22 million people, or nearly half the population, in order to fully open up the economy. Since March last year, 125,283 COVID-19 cases have been registered with 96,397 recoveries and 3,187 deaths.

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