Ministry Distributing 400,000 Doses of Second AstraZeneca Vaccine

July 13, 2021 (ENA) Some 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are being distributed in all regions of the country, according to Ministry of Health.

Briefing journalists today, Health Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse said the ministry has been distributing the 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine it received few days ago to all regions.

Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Agency is distributing the vaccines.

According to the minister, the administration of the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine will start in Addis Ababa tomorrow and on Friday in regional states of the country.

She also revealed that the ministry expects to get about 1.7 million doses in August and it will continue providing the second doses for the two million people that have received the first dose of the vaccine.

Furthermore, Dr. Lia stated that the Ethiopian Public Health Institute and Armor Hanson Research Institute have been doing testing of genomic sequencing of COVID-19 variants and  Alpha and Beta genomes have been identified and detected in Ethiopia.

The institutions have also started the process of collecting samples to do the testing on Delta genomic sequencing and the ministry will announce the results of the sequencing process.

However, there may be the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Ethiopia, as it has already been detected in neighboring countries, the minister said.  

The ministry will continue working to enhance the capacity of genomic sequencing in collaboration with various partners such as Public Health England, it was learned.

Dr. Lia finally urged the public to strengthen preventive measures and non-pharmaceutical interventions as Africa is experiencing the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic.