DILI, May 4, 2021 (TATOLI) – The Government of Timor-Leste will receive tomorrow the first batch of vaccines from AstraZeneca (with 10,000 doses) granted by the Australian Government.
The Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo, informed that the vaccine is scheduled to arrive at 11:00 am at Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, Comoro, Dili.
“On May 19, another 10,000 doses will arrive from Australia. We are also preparing to receive another Sinovac vaccine from China – made available by the COVAX, on a date yet to be defined”, Odete Belo said, after the meeting with the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, at his residence in Farol, Dili.
According to Ms. Belo, the number of covid-19 cases is continued to increase after the country began an anti-COVID-19 inoculation drive on April 7, after the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Australia, thus the Ministry of Health (MS) will launch the second vaccination on May 10.
Ms. Belo added that the vaccine will be subjected to people over 60 and those who suffer from certain diseases.
It is recalled that the first batch of vaccines from AstraZeneca, with 24 thousand doses, arrived on April 5 in Timor-Leste. The COVAX mechanism financed the 20% related to the purchase of the AstraZeneca vaccine for seven million US dollars. This percentage is equivalent to about 263 thousand doses. The country has already received the first batch of vaccines and the rest will arrive in stages.
The administration of the first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine reached 28,678 people across the territory.
Journalist: Felicidade Ximenes
Editor: Cipriano Colo
