South Sudan on Tuesday received additional 59,520 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) and COVAX facility to enable it to resume vaccination against COVID-19.
Elizabeth Yol Acuei, the health minister, said the vaccines donated by the French government will mainly target those who received the first jab and also cater to the vulnerable groups in the country.
Juba received the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility of 132,000 doses in March. In July, South Sudan halted vaccination against COVID-19 after exhausting all its available vaccines.
Fabian Ndenzako, WHO Representative in South Sudan revealed that the second batch of vaccines will enable 10 percent of the 12.2 million South Sudan population to be vaccinated by the end of this year.
He also disclosed that they aim to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the vulnerable groups that include elderly persons by December 2021.
Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF Country Representative said the vaccination against COVID-19 will immediately resume on Wednesday in the country.
The country has recorded 11,436 COVID-19 cases, 10,948 recoveries and 120 fatalities as of Tuesday. Enditem
