Thursday October 28, 2021
Mogadishu (HOL)- Germany has donated 163000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines to Somalia.
The vaccines aimed at battling the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the world and claimed over 4.9 lives globally were delivered through the COVAX facility this week.
Dr. Fawziya Abikar Nur, the Minister of Health and Human Services of Somalia, thanked the German government for the donation.
“The Government of Germany has extended its valuable support to Somalia in the fight against Covid-19, and we would like to thank them for this,” Dr. Nur said.
According to Dr. Nur, Health records in Somalia show that 1.85 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
She said that the support from Germany was essential to Somali nationals and a clear indication that it was ready to work with the East African country in fighting out the disease.
Germany’s Deputy Ambassador to Somalia, Sascha Kienzle, assured the Somalia Government of its support in the fight against Covid-19.
“We stand firmly with Somalia to protect its people against Covid-19. As the second-largest donor to the global response to Covid-19, and one of the co-founders of the ACT-A, a distribution platform for Covid-19 vaccines,” Kienzle said.
“We understand the importance of ensuring safe and equitable access to these vaccines for every country to end this pandemic and to ensure vaccine equity. I hope our support will enable Somalia to immunize more of its citizens, giving them an opportunity to lead healthy lives and contribute to the country’s economy and development goals,” he added.
In August 2021, the German government donated around 1.3 million face masks to WHO for Somalis to use and stay safe from Covid-19 and other infectious respiratory diseases.
The move to donate the vaccines was welcomed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Its representative in Somalia, Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik, said that Germany had stepped up to fight against the pandemic.
“Donors such as the Government of Germany are playing an important role in the response plan for Covid-19. Together with the Federal Government of Somalia and UNICEF, WHO is supporting the vaccination drive to improve the uptake and use all means to reach every eligible Somali to receive the vaccine,” Dr. Malik said.
Somalia received its first batch of COVID vaccines in March through the World Health Organization's global vaccine-sharing program COVAX. It received another major shipment in August. Somalia's health ministry estimates that 285,000 people are fully vaccinated.
Germany donated also 1.3 million facemasks to Somalia in August.
To date, Somalia has recorded 21,998 cases of Covid-19, and 1,208 people have died of the viral disease.