The Minister of Public Health in the caretaker government, Hamad Hassan, announced the initiation of the COVID-19 vaccination plan from the Grand Serail.
The National News Agency reported Hassan confirming that the vaccine will be free through the Ministry of Public Health, and there will be no financial charge to obtain it even in private vaccination centers. He pointed out that one of the goals of this campaign is to achieve high vaccination levels in the community, aiming for 80 percent coverage during the year 2021. Minister Hassan clarified that the general principles adopted in the plan include, according to international standards and agreements, the individual's freedom of choice without mandatory vaccination, after conducting a base of surveys and scientific data that enables citizens to make informed decisions without being influenced by incorrect information, ensuring the targeted coverage through the national plan and assisting individuals in making enlightened choices regarding vaccination.
The Minister of Health stated that the plan relied on two key points: mitigating the spread of the virus, which means protecting as much as possible the most vulnerable target groups from infection, indicating that two criteria were adopted: global health data and Lebanese privacy in targeting certain high-risk groups in terms of infection and mortality rates. He added that the second point was to reduce infections as much as possible, thereby alleviating the burden on the healthcare sector, especially in intensive care units, leading to the third point, which is the reduction of deaths.
The Minister revealed that the national vaccination plan consists of 12 items, including organizational matters, planning, resources, supplies, targeted population groups, priority setting, vaccination centers, infection prevention, vaccination monitoring, human resources, and the vaccines that the Lebanese state is working on purchasing while allowing the entry of vaccines into the private market amid various initiatives from many political, institutional, community, and municipal references that require strict organization. He emphasized that the approved vaccine is unified for all residents on Lebanese territory.
The Minister of Public Health stated that the World Bank has secured financial transfers to purchase the vaccine, and 2.1 million doses have been reserved with "Pfizer." He clarified that 250,000 doses are expected to arrive in the first quarter of the year beginning from mid-February, hoping for the arrival of the first batch of the COVAX vaccine during March to complement the reserved quantity.
For his part, the head of the National Technical Committee for COVID-19 Vaccine Management, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Bizri, confirmed that the plan aims at community protection based on clear scientific principles and standards, indicating that a specialized committee has been formed to monitor transparency in the vaccination process, in addition to guiding citizens and following up in the vaccination stages and monitoring adverse effects of the vaccination.
Additionally, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee, MP Assem Araji, confirmed that the start of the vaccination process does not mean the cessation of preventive measures such as wearing masks and social distancing, explaining that the vaccination process will extend until late this year and will occur in multiple phases to achieve 80 percent community immunity, noting that if the plan is implemented correctly, we will reach safety by the end of the year.
