The Ministry of Health has recieved a donation of 100,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the Government of India. The vaccines arrived at the Entebbe Airport on Sunday afternoon.
Minister of Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng who was part of the Ugandan team that received the vaccines reiterated that all plans are underway to make sure vaccination starts this week – as earlier announced.
Dr. Aceng said that vaccination will be voluntary.
Dr. Aceng also noted that being vaccinated against COVID-19 does not mean that one cannot get COVID-19 or spread it. She warned that it is not yet time to get complacent.
“Even after getting the Covid-19 vaccine, you can still fall sick, even after being vaccinated. The only thing is that you may not be put on oxygen,” Dr. Aceng said.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has received negative press recently, with some countries announcing that they have discontinued using it in the fight against COVID-19. Uganda’s representative from the World Health Organization, Dr Yonas Tegegn however said that the vaccines that arrived in the country are safe and that they have been assessed rigorously.
On Friday, Uganda recieved it’s first batch of 800,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which puts the total doses in the country now at 900,000.
According to the Ministry of Health, vaccination will start on March 10, 2021 this week. health workers, media personnel, security officers and people aged above 50 years who are vulnerable to disease are part of those who will be vaccinated in the first batch.
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