Myanmar to use China-donated Sinopharm Covid vaccine
Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine shots donated by China will be available soon in Myanmar with regions and states to receive them under a quota system depending on population and outbreak, according to the ministry of health and sports.
Covid-19 vaccinations continue at people’s hospitals and designated vaccination camps in the regions and states. The ministry is also trying to make sure all health staff receive vaccine shots.
A total of 500,000 shots provided by the Chinese government arrived in Yangon on May 2.
The ministry issued a statement in early May promising to vaccinate those who had yet to receive injections until May 25 depending on the surplus and availability.
Till April, over 1.5 million people received their first doses. Research shows that those who have been vaccinated can prevent Covid-19 and even if they contract it, they experience less severity. Therefore, the ministry will try to carry out vaccinations constantly in order to avoid the further wave of Covid-19 outbreak, said the union minister for health and sports during a coordination meeting on work progress at public hospitals in Nay Pyi Taw.
Currently, Myanmar is using Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India with the copy right of the vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
According to a weekly report about Covid-19 outbreak in Southeast Asian countries released by the World Health Organization on May 24, Myanmar had over 1.7 million people vaccinated against Covid-19 accounting for 3.22 percent of 100 people.