MYANMAR is aiming for 50 percent of the country’s population to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2021. So far, nearly 13 per cent of the population has completed COVID-19 vaccination, according to the Ministry of Health.

“The country has 36.9 million people over the age of 18 to be vaccinated. Among them, 4.8 million people have been vaccinated one dose or twice. The World Health Organization (WHO) targets to cover 20 percent of the population at the end of September, 40 percent at the end of 2021 and 70 percent in mid-2022. However, WHO is planning to set 50 per cent of the population, though 40 per cent by the end of 2021,” said an official from the Health Ministry.

According to the ministry’s latest figures, about 2.981 million people have been fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines nationwide as of 7 September.

Two million doses purchased from Russia will arrive this month and efforts are being made to get the remaining vaccines from India.

Currently, the country administrated 150,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the target groups daily. The country launched the COVID-19 vaccination programme in January 2021, according to the Ministry of Health.

Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines have been approved by the WHO for emergency use. The vaccine has been recommended for over 18 years old, according to the WHO’s guidance.

Myanmar has recorded 155,697 COVID-19 cases and 3,320 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the health ministry data.

Aye Maung/GNLM

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