Submitted by moiuser on 27 January 2021

MYANMAR will kick-start COVID-19 vaccination programme on 27 January 2021.

The government worked to acquire the high-quality and reliable COVID-19 vaccines in various ways such as proposals to the COVAX facility, purchase by the State Fund and government-to-government friendship programmes.

On 22 January 2021, Myanmar received 1.5 million doses of Covishield/AstraZeneca in terms of friendly relations between the two neighbouring countries.

Moreover, 2 million doses of Covishield/AstraZeneca, out of 30 million doses, purchased by the State Fund will arrive in Myanmar in the first week of February, followed by the arrival of vaccines from COVAX facility in March and the purchased vaccines by the State Fund in April respectively.

The vaccination programme will begin for the health workers and volunteers in the front-line of COVID-19 control measures on 27 January 2021, for the Pyithu Hluttaw representatives on 29 January 2021 and for the Amyotha Hluttaw representatives and the Tatmadaw Hluttaw representatives on 30 January 2021.

Then, the nationwide vaccination programme will start on 5 February 2021, and it will reach members of Union Government, region/state government and the public.

The programme will prioritize the elderly persons, people with the underlying diseases and those who are vulnerable to the diseases living in the townships under the stay-at-home measures. Among these townships, the programme will also prioritize people in townships and areas with a higher rate of infection in relation to the availability of doses for the vaccine.

The following vaccines will be used for the remaining persons in prioritized order.

“We need to protect ourselves in line with the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Sports, such as the basic rules of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding crowds and observing social distancing.”

(Excerpt from State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech on updated situations of COVID-19 containment measures on 21-1-2021)

Ministry of Health and Sports

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar