The Ministry of Health will next week on Monday June 28 resume another phase of COVID-19 vaccination in the country. Uganda had run out COVID-19 vaccines but last week on June 16, the health ministry received a batch of 175,200 AstraZeneca vaccine doses, and it is expecting 688,000 mores doses shortly.
According to the National Medical Stores (NMS) spokesperson, Sheila Nduhukire, vaccines have already been dispatched to all the designated centres across the country and by end this week; all deliveries will have reached their respective destinations.
She revealed that the distribution of vaccines started over the weekend and that trucks were still on the way to deliver them to districts headquarters who will then allocate them to the designated centres with guidance of the health ministry and District Health Officers.
Before the country ran out of vaccines, a total of 834, 271 Ugandans had been vaccinated, with only about 40,000 of them having got a second jab.
Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the health ministry spokesperson said that those waiting for the second jab are going to be the priority in next week’s rollout. He said vaccination in Kampala will start on Monday, adding that each division will have eight vaccination centres within a walkable distance.
On March 10, Uganda launched the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination, targeting high-risk groups such as health workers, teachers, social workers, security personnel, the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions.
President Yoweri Museveni disclosed that Uganda needs to vaccinate at least 4.8 million people before COVID-19 measures can be relaxed.