Myanmar has procured 37m Covid jabs after 2m doses of Sinovac arrived

Myanmar has procured 37m Covid jabs after 2m doses of Sinovac arrived
Students receiving Covid jabs in South Oakkalapa Township, Yangon. (Photo-Aung Myo Thant
Students receiving Covid jabs in South Oakkalapa Township, Yangon. (Photo-Aung Myo Thant
Published 17 November 2021

One million doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine purchased from China and another one million donated by that country have arrived in Myanmar, and students aged 12 and above and priority groups will be vaccinated, according to the ministry of health.

Those two million vaccine doses arrived on November 12 and they will be transported to various regions and states.

The ministry said till November 12, Myanmar had purchased two million doses of Covishield, 24 million doses of Sinopharm and three million doses of Sinovac and received over 8 million doses of vaccines donated by China, India and Russia.

Currently, plans are being made to obtain vaccines from China and Russia as India could not send Covishield jabs Myanmar has earlier purchased in time. Meanwhile, the ministry urged the people to continue following the Covid-19 protocols such as wearing face masks, washing hands and distancing even though they have been vaccinated.

Myanmar has 36.9 million people aged 18 and above.

The ministry says high vaccination coverage will effectively reduce infection as well as death. The World Health Organization has also pointed out that vaccine equity will accelerate the end of the pandemic.