The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that it will deploy teams across Syria to implement a vaccination program that includes both government-controlled areas and territories outside of state control, possibly by April.
Dr. Akjamal Majtimova, the representative of the World Health Organization in Damascus, said that the organization’s Kovacs program intends to vaccinate five million Syrians, equivalent to 20 percent of the population across the country, despite the conflict entering its eleventh year.
"We are preparing our plan for distributing the vaccine with the Ministry of Health to ensure that the program runs according to schedule," she added, adding that the priority will be to vaccinate medical staff, workers in social services, and groups most at risk of infection.
Most Syrians live in areas that are now under government control, but the militants still control areas in the northwest, and a Kurdish-led administration controls a large part of the northeast. The war in Syria has displaced about a quarter of the population inside the country, and many of them live in camps.
Last week, the Gavi Alliance, which co-leads the Kovacs program with the World Health Organization, said it aims to send 2.3 billion vaccine doses worldwide by the end of 2021, including 1.8 billion free doses for low-income countries.
Regarding the implementation of the vaccination campaign in Syria, Magtimova told Reuters in a telephone interview from Damascus, "I really hope that the campaign (starts) in April, but it may take longer depending on a lot of factors."
"We have to deal with a lot of unknowns," she added, and like other countries waiting for vaccines through the Kovacs program, Syria can also get supplies directly from companies. But it has not yet announced any such bilateral agreements. Health officials say Damascus is in talks with Russia and China about supplying the vaccine.
Regardless of the procedures related to arranging the vaccination program across the battle fronts, Syria faces an additional obstacle in the form of international financial sanctions.
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