Covid-19: Lebanon starts mass vaccination drive, PM says will wait for his turn

Lebanon, on February 14, kick-started its mass vaccination drive by inoculating the head of critical care at its biggest public hospital, followed by 93-year-old celebrated Lebanese actor and comedian Salah Tizani. Last month, the Lebanese parliament approved a law allowing the import of Pfizer/BioNTech in a bid to pull the country out of the pandemic. The country received more than 28,500 doses of Pfizer vaccine shots earlier on February 13.  

Decades of war and political crisis has pushed the country into extreme poverty and starvation. Paired with Beirut port blast, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the country on the brink of bankruptcy. Since first reported, the caseload of COVID-19 has surged to 336,999 out of which 3,961 have died.

Read: Lebanon Receives First Shipment Of COVID-19 Vaccine Under World Bank's Aid

Read:US, France Call On Lebanese Leaders To Urgently Form 'credible' Government 

Delays in signing a deal to purchase a vaccine and the rollout of an inoculation programme have caused frustration in Lebanon. The World Bank, which helped fund the first batch of doses, has said it would monitor the inoculation drive to ensure the shots go to those most in need.

Meanwhile, country’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab told reporters at the Rafik Hariri hospital, that he would not be the first person to receive the jabs as the country’s priority was to protect its frontline medical workers. “I will not be receiving the vaccine today, for today is not my turn and the priority is for the medical sector that has done its duty and presented big sacrifices,” he said.

Vaccines 'a dream come true'

Earlier, Health minister Hamad Hassan told reporters that the arrival of vaccines was “a dream come true”, while the head of Rafik Hariri hospital, Firass Abiad, called it the “best gift one can ask for on Valentine's Day," on Twitter. Under WHO’s global COVAX alliance, Lebanon has procured an additional 2.7 million doses of Pfizer, and  1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca, although the talks are still ongoing. With the jabs secured so far, the country will be able to vaccine half of its total 6 million population, which includes Syrian refugees.

(Image source: AP)

Read: Lebanon Launches Vaccination With Health Workers

Read: Lebanon Administers 1st Vaccines To Health Workers, Elderly