On Monday, Afghanistan received 468,000 vaccine doses under the flagship project of Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX), which is a cooperation between UNICEF, CEPI, WHO, and Gavi.
468,000 Vaccines (of COVISHEILD) were transported from Mumbai airport in India to Kabul airport in Afghanistan via emirates flight. Therefore making Afghanistan the first country in Central Asia to receive vaccines under the COVAX project. In addition to vaccines, 470,000 syringes and 4,700 safety boxes were also shipped as part of the whole vaccine package.
Ricard Lacort, senior country manager Afghanistan and Djibouti for Gavi have expressed this occasion as a ‘major milestone’. Additionally, he expressed the desire to work further in the future with Afghanistan and partners to provide vaccines to those who need them the most.
Sheema Sen Gupta, representative of UNICEF Afghanistan has assured that the vaccines provided by COVAX will be used to protect around 234,000 people, which notably include front line workers and teachers, against the wrath of COVID-19.
Moreover, the acting minister for public health, Waheed Majroh has emphasized the role the ministry of public health played during this pandemic. He further added that MoPH applauds the efforts and actions of COVAX to provide Afghanistan with vaccines against COVID-19.
COVAX is on a mission to provide around 2 Billion vaccines worldwide in 2021, with 1.3 billion donor-funded doses to the 92 lower-income COVAX facilities. It must be remembered that the latest shipment of 468,000 vaccines is the second shipment of COVID-19 vaccines. Before this, India donated around 500,000 doses in February 2021.
