Govt expands COVID-19 vaccine priority list to include persons aged 58 and above

Govt expands COVID-19 vaccine priority list to include persons aged 58 and above

The Ministry of Health has resolved to include persons aged 58 years and above among those prioritised in the going COVID-19 vaccination exercise.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Chairman of the COVID-19 Deployment Taskforce Dr. Willis Akhwale pointed out that persons aged above 58 are at a high risk of severe infection and account for 60% of the COVID-19 related deaths that have so  far been recorded in the country.

“The country is now experiencing the 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with increasing number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. In view of this surge of the pandemic, and in order to protect and save lives, the Ministry of Health has decided to immediately prioritize vaccinations of persons aged 58 years and above,” reads the statement.

“According to our data these are at most risk of severe disease and account for 60% of our recorded deaths. This group of persons will now be a priority target group under the ongoing Phase 1 vaccination exercise. This prioritization is also aligned to the WHO and National Taskforce on Vaccine Deployment recommendations.”

Meanwhile the Ministry of Health has called upon all political, religious and community leaders to take the vaccine so as to boost confidence in the overall vaccination process among vaccination target groups.

The First Phase of vaccination was launched on March 8, 2021 targeting 1.25 million frontline workers at high risk of infection among them health workers, security personnel, teachers, workers in institutions of learning and the Clergy.

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