8 Subh, Kabul: Coronavirus vaccination began on Tuesday, February 23, the first anniversary of the country’s first coronavirus infection. The program was officially inaugurated at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace attended by President Ghani and a number of high-ranking government and health officials. At this stage, the vaccination program with 500,000 vaccine doses provided by India with which 250,000 people can be vaccinated, was started.
TOLO News correspondent Anisa Shahid was the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine. A number of others were vaccinated on behalf of the national security agencies, police, army, and health personnel.
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani called the coronavirus pandemic a catastrophe that swept the world but was well managed in Afghanistan. According to him, the initial analysis was that the risks were much higher, but these risks were managed during the first and second waves. Ghani stressed that the danger of coronavirus had not been eliminated and new mutations were always emerging. He called on people to take care of their health individually.
President Ghani called the health workers the “true heroes” in the fight against coronavirus, and said that a memorial to the health workers who died on the front lines of the fight against the virus would be built. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani thanked India for helping with the coronavirus vaccine.
Ghani said the first phase of vaccination had begun with 500,000 doses and, would be a test for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health and the people. Ghani said efforts were underway to provide resources for the second phase of the vaccination, which would cover 40 percent of the country’s population.
The head of the Ministry of Public Health, Wahid Majroh, said at the ceremony that coronavirus posed the most risk to health workers, security forces and media workers. He called the fair implementation of the vaccine a major responsibility of the Ministry of Public Health and called on the public, civil society, and the media to co-operate with the Ministry of Public Health in carrying out this responsibility.
India’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Rudrendra Tandon, said the outbreak of coronavirus had had a serious impact on the world and, in addition to its profound economic effects, had resulted in casualties. According to him, the fight against coronavirus was not possible without global solidarity.
He added that the coronavirus outbreak showed that the global solidarity needed to fight the virus had not yet been formed. The Indian ambassador also called his country’s assistance to Afghanistan an effort to build global solidarity in the fight against coronavirus.
The first case of coronavirus was registered in Afghanistan on February 24 last year. According to official statistics, more than 55,000 people have been infected with the virus so far, and more than 2,000 have died.
