The successful rollout of the coronavirus vaccines in war-ravaged Syria depends on their availability and distribution and may initially cover only 3 percent of the population, a World Health Organization official said Tuesday.
Akjemal Magtymova, a WHO representative in Syria, said the country is eligible to receive vaccines for free through the global COVAX effort aimed at helping lower-income countries obtain the shots.
But Magtymova couldn’t say when the first shipment would arrive, how many vaccines were expected, or how they would be rolled out in a divided country still at war. The COVAX rollout is expected to begin in April.
Magtymova spoke to the Associated Press in the capital of Damascus amid concerns over the equitable distribution of the coronavirus vaccines across the country when the healthcare sector has been devastated by a decade of war and remains divided into three rival parts.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
