Syria has approved the country's admission to the World Health Organization-led (WHO) COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution initiative, the COVAX Facility, to gain access to the vaccines against the coronavirus, the state-run Syrian News Channel reported on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) Syria has approved the country's admission to the World Health Organization-led (WHO) COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution initiative, the COVAX Facility, to gain access to the vaccines against the coronavirus, the state-run Syrian news Channel reported on Tuesday.
According to the media outlet, the government finalized the decision after resolving a number of issues to ensure that the safest vaccines are delivered in the nearest future.
Last week, Tawfiq Hasabah, the director of the Syrian Ministry of Health's emergency department, told Sputnik that the Arab country was gearing up to receive the first shipment of 600,000 doses from the Gavi vaccine alliance at the beginning of April via COVAX.
The country's health authorities plan to vaccinate five of its 17 million population at the first stage.
The COVAX Facility, which is co-led by Gavi, the WHO, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, aims to accelerate the development of vaccines against the coronavirus and ensure that all countries across the world have equal access to them. Over 180 countries have already joined the platform.
According to the latest data provided by the Syrian Health Ministry, 13,697 cases of COVID-19 have been registered since the start of the pandemic, with 7,121 recoveries and 890 fatalities.
