Mozambique: Maputo receives over 13,000 doses of vaccine for health professionals

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Mozambique: Maputo receives over 13,000 doses of vaccine for health professionals

6:44 CAT | 02 Mar 2021

Photo: Conselho dos Serviços de Representação do Estado na Cidade de Maputo

The city of Maputo, the Mozambican capital, on Monday received 13,920 doses of vaccines against Covid-19, donated by China, and which are intended for more than 9,000 health professionals, said an official source.

“Health professionals are in the front line so with this number of doses we can vaccinate all of them who are working at the moment in Maputo city,” said Sheila Santana, secretary of state during the reception of the vaccines at the Municipal Depot of Medicines, on the outskirts of the capital.

According to Santana, the vaccination process in the capital will count with 52 technicians, distributed in 18 centres and hospitals of the seven municipal districts of Maputo city.

“The training of technicians at the city level started today on Monday. We are already organised and we are waiting for the plan and guidelines from the Ministry of Health to start the vaccination process,” she said.

According to the secretary of state, the vaccines will be distributed by the health units of the capital starting Wednesday.

The city of Maputo, which has been under night-time curfew since February, has the highest accumulated number of cases of infection, 25,182 out of the total 59,350 registered in the country, 69% of which have been recovered.

Mozambique also has a total of 641 deaths from Covid-19.

Around 60% of the first batch of 200,000 vaccines that Mozambique received from China are intended for Mozambican health workers.

Official figures showed that since March, when the first case was registered in Mozambique, at least 2,805 health workers have been infected and, of this group, 22 have died.

In the vaccination plan, which is due to be officially launched in the next few days, the Mozambican government also plans to give priority to other exposed groups, particularly the police.

Mozambique has received from China a total of 200,000 doses of the Verocell vaccine, including syringes, manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm.

This is the first batch of vaccines against Covid-19 in the country, which is also waiting for its share under the World Health Organization (WHO) Covax international mechanism.

Source: Lusa