Mozambique expects to start vaccination against the new coronavirus from July this year, having already identified the priority groups, announced the Minister of Health.
“The vaccine is expected to arrive in Mozambique between the months of May and June, which means that in the begining of July or late June, in a more optimistic scenario, we would start vaccinating,” said Health Minister Armindo Tiago , in an interview with Rádio Moçambique.
Without elaborating on what they are, Armindo Tiago said that the Ministry of Health and the Government have already defined the priority groups, warning that the vaccine “should not be seen as something that will solve all problems”.
“First, it is necessary to take into account that the vaccine is a complement to the measures already in force against covid-19”, he stressed.
Mozambique expects to receive the vaccine through the vaccination program of the Covax initiative, launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and which plans to distribute at least two billion doses by the end of 2021 in order to immunize 20% of the most vulnerable in 91 poor countries, mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
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“This initiative will allow us to have a safe vaccine, prequalified by WHO and that can reach the country free of charge,” explained Armindo Tiago.
According to the Minister of Health, the country expects to receive around six million doses, which will cover 20% of the Mozambican population, having already completed two of the several steps necessary to receive the vaccine.
“We have already submitted a technical assistance plan and also the so-called candidacy for access to the vaccine, in which we specify the priority groups, that is, those who will be the first to be immunized,” he said.