By CGTN Africa
The Ugandan government has announced that COVID-19 vaccination will resume today and that medical students will be prioritized in this third rollout of vaccines to allow for the reopening of medical schools.
The resumption of vaccination comes more than a week after the government received additional donations of 586,080 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The jabs comprised 300,000 doses of Sinovac from the Chinese government and 286,080 doses of AstraZeneca from the global sharing initiative –COVAX.
The vaccination exercise was halted last month after the 175,200 doses of Astrazeneca that the French government had donated to the country was exhausted within few days amid a large number of people who are due for the second dose.
The huge demand for COVID-19 vaccines is being attributed to increasing numbers of deaths and people get sensitized about the importance of embracing the vaccination.
According to a notice from the Ministry of Health yesterday, in the vaccination exercise that will resume today, Kampala will have 32 vaccination points to allow for easy access to vaccines.
The country has so far vaccinated more than 1.1 million people against the target of vaccinating at least 21.9 million to safely reopen the economy.
“This points to the widening gap of individuals due for second doses and the larger Ugandan population that needs to be inoculated yet we have inadequate vaccines in the country,” she said.
The government’s priority was to direct the few doses to people who are considered more vulnerable to COVID-19, and this was about five million people and that medical students will be prioritised.
