Beirut (AFP)

Lebanon received the first doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 on Saturday, on the eve of the start of vaccinations in the country in crisis where the hospital sector is under strain.

The Minister of Health, Hamad Hassan, was at Beirut airport to receive the 28,500 doses that arrived from Belgium.

"This dream has come true thanks to the support of our international partners," he said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the World Bank (WB) have announced that they will “independently” oversee the storage and distribution of the first vaccines covered by WB funding.

"The vaccine will reach all Lebanese citizens throughout the country," Hassan insisted.

“Syrian and Palestinian refugees” will also have access.

The country of some six million people, including more than one million Syrian and Palestinian refugees, is expecting two million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines, which will gradually arrive in the coming weeks.

The first phase of vaccinations will concern medical personnel and those over 75 years old.

It will begin Sunday with medical staff from three hospitals in Beirut, including Rafic Hariri hospital, the main public institution mobilized against the pandemic.

Half a million people have registered on the online platform for vaccination, according to the Ministry of Health.

According to a poll published in early February by a private institute, Information International, 38% of the 500 people questioned do not want to be vaccinated, while 31% want it and 31% are undecided.

Lebanon intends to obtain a total of some six million doses, including 2.7 million as part of the international Covax platform launched to help the most disadvantaged countries.

On Sunday, the resigning Prime Minister Hassan Diab, 61, should also be vaccinated, according to his services.

Due to their age, President Michel Aoun, 87, and the head of Parliament, Nabih Berri, 83, are part of the population category entitled to receive the vaccine as a priority.

In a country afflicted by economic, social and political crises, where hospitals are saturated and the medical sector overwhelmed by the epidemic, politicians are regularly castigated for a disastrous management of public affairs.

Lebanon has officially recorded more than 334,000 cases of Covid-19 so far, including nearly 4,000 deaths.

The country has seen a surge in cases due to the relaxation of restrictions during the holiday season and the spread of more contagious variants.

In intensive care, the occupancy rate is 89.39% across the country and 94.55% in Beirut, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization office in Lebanon.

Containment has been in effect since mid-January.

A gradual lifting of restrictions was initiated on February 8.

© 2021 AFP