Afghanistan Rolls Out Mass Vaccination Campaign Against COVID-19 On Tuesday - Reports

Afghanistan on Tuesday launched its mass inoculation campaign against coronavirus, administering the Covishield vaccine India's version of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine primarily to security forces, medical and media workers, national media reported

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2021) Afghanistan on Tuesday launched its mass inoculation campaign against coronavirus, administering the Covishield vaccine India's version of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine primarily to security forces, medical and media workers, national media reported.

According to the 1TV news broadcaster, the country has received 500,000 doses of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India and will get more doses through the COVAX scheme, which are expected to cover 20 percent of the country's population.

"Today is a fortunate day for Afghanistan as we launch the first vaccination drive, but it would be a challenge to roll the plan to the whole country," acting Health Minister Waheed Majroh said during a ceremony in the presidential palace, as cited by the broadcaster.

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani said that the authorities were currently making efforts to ensure that 40 percent of the population would be covered in a second round of the vaccination campaign.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Afghanistan has registered over 55,000 infections, including 2,435 fatalities.