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Uganda receives 196,800 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine
The Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Ms Diana Atwine (M) and Regional Chief Operating Officer Afrexim Bank Mr Kudakwashe Matereke (2nd R) receive the vaccines on Thursday. Photo | Paul Adude
What you need to know:
- Ms Atwine said the government has released a total of Shs120 billion to the Ministry and National Medical Stores (NMS) for the procurement and handling of Covid vaccines.
The Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Ms Diana Atwine, has revealed that Uganda is set to receive 9 million doses of the government procured Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine in a bid to support the ongoing mass vaccination campaign across the country.
“Government has ordered a total of 9 million doses of J&J vaccines through the African Union (AU) / African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) initiative to the tune of Shs290. These vaccines will be delivered in a phased manner to support the ongoing mass Covid-19 vaccination program” she said.
Ms Atwine made the remarks after receiving the first batch of 196,800 doses of the vaccine on Thursday night at Entebbe International Airport.
“This vaccine will be administered as a single dose to the priority groups who have not received any Covid-19 vaccine to date,” she said.
Ms Atwine said the government has released a total of Shs120 billion to the Ministry and National Medical Stores (NMS) for the procurement and handling of Covid vaccines.
“Shs55.8 billion was disbursed as a down payment to access the J&J vaccine, Shs50.4 billion has been released to procure 2,060,400 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine expected early December 2021 as part of the order of 17,829,400 doses that Uganda placed with COVAX facility,” she explained.
Ms Atwine said the ministry is in the process of transferring the remaining funds as the vaccines are availed to the country.
“To date, we have received 5,690,363 doses of Covid-19 vaccines comprising of AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Moderna, Pfizer and now J&J. Of these, 2,282,414 doses have been administered while 2,080,594 are currently being distributed countrywide. Of the administered doses, 1,704,279 people have received their first dose and 578,135 people have got their second dose,” she said.
