Lebanon launches its vaccination campaign against Covid-19

The first shipment of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was unloaded from a plane at Beirut International Airport on February 13, 2021. REUTERS - MOHAMED AZAKIR

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Lebanon received on Saturday February 13 its first shipment of anti-Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer / BioNTech.This is 28,500 doses to launch the vaccination campaign which begins this Sunday, in the hope of slowing the progression of virus which has infected more than 330,000 people out of a total of six million inhabitants.

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With our correspondent in Beirut, 

Paul Khalifeh

The vaccination campaign will be launched by Lebanese Prime Minister Hassane Diab who will receive his first injection this Sunday, February 14.

The President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, and the head of Parliament, Nabib Berry, will also be vaccinated to encourage a reluctant population to do the same.

Only 570,000 people have registered on the national vaccination campaign platform, a figure far from the 80% needed to ensure community immunity.

Lebanon will receive by the end of March 250,000 doses out of a total of 2 million vaccines, the purchase of which is

financed by the World Bank

.

This is the first operation of this type organized by the international institution, which has set up in partnership with the Lebanese Red Cross and the Red Crescent a monitoring mechanism to independently supervise the vaccination campaign.

The aim is to ensure that the criteria of transparency and fair distribution are respected in a country undermined by patronage.

Russia has announced it is offering 200,000 Russian vaccines Sputnik V, while doses of the British vaccine AstraZeneca are expected in the coming weeks.

Experts believe that at the current rate, 60% of the population will have received the vaccine by the end of the year.

► Read also: Coronavirus in Lebanon: a law to regulate the importation of the vaccine

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  • Lebanon

  • Vaccines

  • Coronavirus

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