Afghanistan begins mass COVID-19 vaccination drive
Government plans to cover at least 60% of 39M population by 2022
KABUL, Afghanistan
Afghanistan has started administering COVID-19 vaccines to all citizens above the age of 18, the Health Ministry announced on Friday.
Designated health centers in all 34 provinces have started vaccinating citizens with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, according to the ministry.
A spokesperson said health workers, teachers, public sector employees, nomads, and people above the age of 50 remain the top priority.
He added that the war-ravaged country expects 1.5 million vaccine doses in the coming months from the COVAX facility, a global initiative aimed at delivering vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.
Afghanistan started its first vaccinations toward the end of March and plans to cover at least 60% of the population by 2022.
Owing to limited resources, the country of some 39 million people has only conducted close to 380,000 COVID-19 tests to date.
The case count in Afghanistan currently stands at around 57,700, including over 2,500 deaths.
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