Somalia starts use of AstraZeneca amid blood clotting concerns

Somalia has confirmed 379 deaths from Covid-19 since last year while nearly 10,000 have tested positive for the disease. 

News Keydmedia Online
16 March 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign started on Tuesday in Somalia for frontline health workers, the country's health announced.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Fowsiya Abikar Nor, and outgoing president Farmajo became the first people to get vaccinated in an attempt to encourage the public to have confidence in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine amid blood clotting concerns.

The event to roll-out the AstraZeneca Vaccine was held in De Martini hospital, where is the main Cilic designated to treat the Covid-19 patients. 

The vaccination program started a day after Somalia received 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through the global COVAX facility.

The government dispatched 65,000 doses to the northern breakaway region of Somaliland and 40,000 to Puntland state as part of the efforts to curb the spread of the virus. 

The second wave of Covid-19 hit the country now more than ever since 2020 when the health ministry recorded the first case in the Horn of Africa nation.

Somalia has confirmed 379 deaths from Covid-19 since last year while nearly 10,000 have tested positive for the disease, mostly in Mogadishu which is the worst-hit area.

KEYDMEDIA English