Advertisement

Updated January 27th, 2021 at 20:30 IST

Myanmar launches COVID-19 vaccination drive following shipment from India

The Southeast Asian country Myanmar plans to inoculate 750,000 people in first quarter of 2021. The country prioritized the health workers to get the jab first.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Myanmar
| Image:self
Advertisement

Myanmar on January 26 launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive after the country received 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vials in the first shipment under India’s ‘vaccine diplomacy’. The Southeast Asian country now plans to inoculate 750,000 people in the first quarter of 2021. The country prioritized health workers to get the jab first, followed by the high-risk vulnerable population, according to broadcaster Myanmar Times.

The government plans to inoculate 40 per cent of its population by the end of 2021, the newspaper quoted Dr. Khin Khin Gyi, Myanmar’s director of the Contagious Disease Prevention and Eradication Division as saying. Under the agreement with India, Myanmar purchased the vaccines manufactured by the World’s largest Serum Institute of India for $5 each vial. The shipment touched down in Yangon on January 22. 

Last week, Myanmar’s leader, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, announced at the press conference that the Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca co-manufactured vaccine produced under the license by India will be administered across the hospitals in different cities, starting from those with a significant surge of infections. At a hospital in the capital Naypyitaw, where the vaccination drive started, Suu Kyi participated and observed the campaign as she warned healthcare workers about the vials saying that the government lacked the supplies it needed and the authorities had to be careful. The 75-year-old leader meanwhile is expected to get inoculated Thursday, according to the CNA report. 

Read: Sri Lanka To Procure 2 To 3 Million Doses Of Anti-COVID Vaccine From India: Official

Read: Bill Gates Believes Tokyo Olympics 'still Possible', Says Fate Depends On Vaccine Roll-out

[Indian Embassy in Myanmar in front of vaccine shipment. Credit: AP]

[Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi inspects and watches the vaccination processes to health workers at a hospital. Credit: AP]

Healthcare workers inspect side-effects

Myanmar’s government started vaccinating about 100 personnel on Wednesday at the Ayeyarwaddy COVID-19 Treatment Center in Yangon, which was converted into a makeshift hospital in September with 1,000 beds. While the healthcare workers have been instructed to monitor the symptoms and post-inoculation effects on health, a health worker at the center Myo Thet Naing told AP that thus far, there were no complaints about the side effects of the vaccines.“So far I feel nothing. It is all good,” Naing said. “I feel very pleased and happy,” AP quoted another 19-year-old volunteer Htet Aung Lin who received the vaccine at the center as saying. 

Read: EU Official: AstraZeneca Pulls Out Of Vaccine Delivery Talks

Read: Peru: Sinovac Vaccine Volunteer Allegedly Dies From COVID-19 Induced Pneumonia

(Image Credit: AP)

Advertisement

Published January 27th, 2021 at 20:30 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama teamed up with Biden for the fundraiser at NYC's Radio City Music Hall.
a few seconds ago
Zomato delivery boy in tears over blocked account
a few seconds ago
Congress Press Conference
a minute ago
L&T Shipbuilding facility
8 minutes ago
Pooja Vastrakar
10 minutes ago
Crew posters
35 minutes ago
Big Communication Gap Within the Congress: Sanjay Nirupam Targets Party Leadership | EXCLUSIVE
36 minutes ago
VST Tillers Tractors
37 minutes ago
High-net-worth women show a nuanced approach to wealth with interest in alternative investments and cautious risk tolerance.
37 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo