The areas controlled by fighting factions in Idlib province in northwest Syria are set to receive their first shipment of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday through the COVAX program, according to a UN official speaking to AFP. Dr. Mahmoud Daher, an official from the World Health Organization's office in the Turkish border city of Gaziantep, stated that approximately 53,800 doses will arrive in the region on Wednesday.
This is the first batch of vaccines provided by the COVAX program, which reserves humanitarian supplies for those not covered by national plans, particularly in countries experiencing conflicts or divisions like Syria. Two months ago, local authorities in Idlib and its surroundings, which are controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra) and other factions, announced that they had submitted a request to receive vaccines from the program.
Daher confirmed that "once the vaccines arrive, we will be ready to start the vaccination process for priority groups through our executing partners." He explained that the priority will be given to medical and health personnel, followed by seniors over the age of sixty, and then individuals suffering from chronic diseases aged between 18 and 59. According to Daher, these groups constitute "twenty percent of the population targeted by the COVAX program."
It is expected that the areas under faction control in Idlib and its surroundings will receive approximately 224,000 doses in the first batch, as reported by the World Health Organization at the end of March. "Our goal is to vaccinate twenty percent of the population by the end of 2021," across Syria.
According to Imad Zahran, the director of the media office in the Idlib Health Directorate, the first shipment "will include Idlib and the entire western, eastern, and northern countryside of Aleppo," with the vaccination campaign set to begin in early next month and last for three weeks.
A total of 56 nursing teams, currently undergoing training, will be responsible for the vaccination process, according to Zahran. The areas under faction control in Idlib and its surroundings, housing nearly four million people, have reported over 21,000 infections, including 641 deaths. The Syrian government signed an agreement in January to join the COVAX initiative through the World Health Organization. In the first phase, the program will supply 912,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the population in government-controlled areas and in the northeast under Kurdish fighters' control, with the shipment expected to arrive in May.
