Over 17,000 doses of vaccine allocated to Rojava : WHO in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — More than 17,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were allocated to Northeast Syria (Rojava) earlier this month and the vaccination process in Hasaka province began last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) told Rudaw English on Saturday.

“AZ [AstraZeneca] vaccines allocated to Northeast Syria have been airlifted to Qamishli (Hassakeh governorate) on 3 May 2021. In total, 17,500 doses arrived in Qamishli airport,” the WHO office in Syria told Rudaw English on Saturday via email. “Additional 1,000 doses have been allocated to cover the needs of (Syrian Democratic Forces) SDF-controlled areas in Raqqa governorate and are expected to be sent by road soon.”

The WHO office added the allocated doses are enough to cover 100 percent of health care workers, stating they are the target vaccination group. The WHO said the vaccines would be distributed in Syria “irrespective of affiliation with different health authorities” and that healthcare workers in camps are among the prioritized.

The vaccination rollout in Hasaka started on May 18 with limited vaccination sites in order to test the demand, according to the WHO office.

“A wide-scale COVID-19 vaccination campaign was launched in Hassakeh governorate on 23 May 2021 using the AstraZeneca vaccines provided through the COVAX mechanism,” the group said, adding the next priority group would be those older than 55.

In Raqqa, around eight fixed vaccination teams have been deployed as of Thursday, and in Deir ez-Zor 12 teams are planned to be deployed.

On Saturday, Rojava health board co-chair Jwan Mustafa confirmed to SDF affiliated Hawar News Agency (ANHA) the arrival of the 17,500 doses.

The WHO has called on the public and especially health care workers at this stage to get vaccinated, expressing concern over the vaccines’ expiry date.

“While negotiations around vaccination appear to be yielding results, of particular concern is the vaccine expiry date, that is, August 2021. By this time, significant vaccination coverage should be ensured with both doses (each 8-12 weeks apart) as part of first phase of vaccination,” the organization said.

Rojava recorded 30 new cases of the coronavirus and three deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of cases up to 17,746 and deaths to 723.

Hospitals in the northeast region have limited capacity and resources, including COVID-19 testing equipment. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned in late April that the only corona-testing lab in Rojava, located in Qamishli, could run out of tests within a week.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) earlier this month said the real number of cases is “believed to be much higher than what is reported as people continue to struggle to access testing and healthcare.”

Additional reporting by Karwan Faidhi Dri

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