South Sudan receives 59,520 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

South Sudan has received the second shipment of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, totaling 59,520 doses.

The vaccines are a gift from the French government, and South Sudan health officials say they will be distributed across the country starting today, Wednesday, September 1st.

The minister of health, Elizabeth Achuei, thanked the French government and South Sudan’s health sector partners for the gift upon the consignment’s arrival at Juba International Airport on Tuesday.

“I would like to express my gratitude for the delivery of such a large number of vaccines, which are required to stop the Covid-19 outbreak. The deployment of these large quantities of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine was made possible by the exceptional humanitarian contribution provided by the French government to GAVI and the COVAX Facility to the Republic of South Sudan,” Minister Achuei said.

This is the second shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility to South Sudan, which received 132,000 doses in April.

According to Xavier Verjus Renard, the deputy French Ambassador in South Sudan.

“Today, France is delighted to deliver almost 60,000 doses of vaccine to South Sudan through the COVAX Facility to support the country’s vaccination program. “I would like to inform you that additional 60,000 tablets supplied by Sweden will be sent shortly,” Ambassador Renard said.

He also urged the South Sudanese government and its supporters to educate people on the importance of getting vaccinated.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative in South Sudan, Dr. Fabbian Ndenzako, said that the vaccines will help fight the country’s pandemic.

“I would like to thank you for delivering such a large amount of Covid-19 vaccines to South Sudan. These vaccines are critical and will aid in the fight against Covid-19 in our country. The delivery of these immunizations to the people of South Sudan contributes to global equal access to the vaccines required to effectively fight the pandemic, according to Dr. Ndenzako.

Dr. Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF Country Representative, said that her organization will now encourage continuous learning for schoolchildren, with an emphasis on vaccinating all teachers.

“We are also focusing heavily on keeping children in school and maintaining a safe environment for them via teacher vaccination. “I would want to thank Minister Elizabeth (Achuei) once again for her hard work, as well as the whole government of South Sudan for this consignment,” Dr. Lasseko said.