ADEN — War-torn Yemen received the first shipment of
COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, the UN children’s agency said, a week after the
country’s coronavirus committee warned of a public health “emergency”.
اضافة اعلان
The AstraZeneca doses arrived in the southern port city of
Aden, Yemen’s de facto capital, where the internationally recognized government
is based after being routed from Sanaa in the north by Huthi rebels in 2014.
“Yemen received 360,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped via
the Covax facility,” UNICEF said in a statement, referring to the World Health
Organization-backed global scheme to provide jabs to countries in need.
“This first batch is part of 1.9 million doses that Yemen
will initially receive throughout 2021,” it added.
Ishraq Al-Sibai, spokeswoman for Yemen’s national emergency
committee for COVID-19, said the shipment came just in time.
“We are living at the peak of the second wave, which has
spread rapidly,” she told AFP.
“The vaccines will be allocated to medical staff, the
elderly and those with chronic conditions across provinces” under government
control, she added.
Last week Yemen’s coronavirus committee urged the government
to declare a public health “state of emergency” amid a surge in infections.
It called for the implementation of a “partial curfew” and
for the closure of wedding halls, shopping centers and mosques outside of
prayer times.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has also warned the number of
critical COVID-19 patients was rising across the country, urging assistance
from donor countries and specialized groups.
MSF was “seeing a dramatic influx of critically ill COVID-19
patients requiring hospitalization in Aden, Yemen, and many other parts of the
country,” the charity said.
“We are urging all medical humanitarian organizations
already present in Yemen to rapidly scale up their COVID-19 emergency
response,” said Raphael Veicht, MSF head of mission in the country.
‘Game changer’
Yemen has officially recorded more than 4,000 virus cases
among its 30 million people, including 863 deaths — but experts say the real
toll is likely higher.
“The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine doses is a critical
moment for Yemen,” said Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF representative to Yemen.
“As COVID-19 continues to claim lives around the world,
Yemen now has the capacity to protect those most at risk, including health
workers, so that they can safely continue to provide life-saving interventions
for children and families.”
The country has been mired in a disastrous war for over six
years which has left it on the brink of famine. Its healthcare system is in
ruins.
Adham Ismail, WHO representative in Yemen, said the vaccine
shipment was a significant step forward.
“It will help save lives, including of those at highest risk
of serious disease, and will help protect the health system,” Ismail said.
“These safe and effective vaccines will be a game changer,
but for the foreseeable future we must continue wearing masks, physically
distance and avoid crowds.”
A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to shore
up the government, and since then the conflict has killed tens of thousands of
people, mostly civilians, and displaced millions.
The United Nations calls the situation in Yemen the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis.
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