Cabinet has approved the purchase of 18 million more doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the Serum Institute of India. This brings the total to 37 million doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine.
In a statement issued by government yesterday on Tuesday the cabinet meeting on Monday, they approved the purchase of the vaccine that will be used to vaccinate the elderly, people with underlying health issues, health workers, and security personnel among other essential social service providers.
The 18 million doses will be used on a total of 9 million people in two doses separated by 28 days.
Late last year government applied for 19 million doses from the GAVI COVAX facility and this is expected to arrive in the country either by the end of this month or early next month. Tentative allocations of more than 3.5 million doses are expected by the end of this month or early next month. The balance is expected on a quarterly basis.