[ad_1]
Samar Faddoul –
Lebanon has taken its first step in securing the Corona vaccine, which is supposed to be offered for international use next month. The Ministry of Health has reserved state participation through the “Kovacs” organization, which was formed from a union between the World Health Organization and the International Vaccine Federation, and its goal is to ensure fair distribution and equitable use of these vaccines among countries. The rich and developing cannot buy it without the help of the organization.
In the context, the adviser to the Minister of Health, Dr. Adamon Abboud, revealed to Al-Gomhoria that “the first batch of vaccines that Lebanon had seized cost around 28 million dollars, of which Lebanon paid 4 million and 369 thousand dollars as the first payment of the budget of the Ministry of Public Health. That the remaining amount of 24 million dollars be paid through the World Bank loan assigned to the ministry.
Abboud says that, “With this amount, Lebanon will be able to obtain 2,370,000 doses of vaccines, capable of vaccinating around 20% of the population.” He revealed that “the reserved vaccines will arrive in Lebanon in early 2021, but the exact date is not yet known.” He explained that “COFEX” obtains the vaccine from the “parent” company, which as soon as it completes its clinical trials, requests to obtain a license from the World Health Organization, and therefore the vaccine can reach Lebanon from Moderna or Pfizer or even from others … ». And to “COFEX”, Abboud indicated that “Lebanon can also obtain the vaccine directly from the producing companies.”
10 million from the Banque du Liban
Consequently, the state is studying today the possibility of buying the vaccine directly from the producing companies, and the “Republic” has reported from ministerial health sources that the state is in the process of reserving vaccines with the company “Pfizer” directly through the government’s request to the Banque du Liban to seize more than 10 million dollars to buy the vaccine. The file is still under study in government departments.
Vaccine distribution mechanism
Faced with the fragmentation that is taking place in all sectors, the Lebanese fear a “khabsa” that could warn the distribution of vaccines, especially since the experiments are ahead, as drugs and subsidized goods are smuggled. Who will preserve the right of the Lebanese to vaccinate?
In this context, the Minister of Public Health Hamad Hassan formed a committee that includes experts from the Ministry and representatives of the Doctors’ Union, the World Health Organization, “UNICEF” and the World Bank, with the mission of determining the mechanism of distribution of the vaccine, the mechanism of conservation and transport, in addition to other logistical matters.
The head of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Asim Araji, reveals to Al-Gomhoria that the initial focus for distribution is to administer the vaccine:
First, for workers in the healthcare sector, including doctors and nurses …
Second, for the age groups and the community most vulnerable and affected by the virus, especially those between 60 and 80 years of age, to which are added those who live in nursing homes. They are followed by those under sixty years of age, who are classified among the most vulnerable to the epidemic, such as those with immunodeficiency and other diseases … and gradually according to age and disease … ».
The cost of the vaccine
With all these figures and clarifications, can the Lebanese be sure that life will return to normal with the start of the arrival of the vaccine?
Araji explains that the matter needs time even after the vaccine reaches Lebanon, for several reasons:
The first is that the reassuring element is not complete until 60 percent of the Lebanese population is infected and vaccinated, which means that we have reached a state of “community immunity”. Until then, Araji renewed his call for “adherence to preventive measures, especially the mask and social distancing.”
It also revealed that Lebanon needs around 5 million vaccines (the number of its population) at an approximate price of $ 30 per vaccine, which means around $ 150 million.
Going back to what the vaccine companies announced, the person needs two vaccines, which means that Lebanon really needs $ 300 million to cover their needs. Will we be able to get this amount to face the “War of the Crown”?
"); //}, 3000);}}); //$(window).bind('scroll '); $ (window) .scroll (function () {if (alreadyLoaded_facebookConnect == false) {alreadyLoaded_facebookConnect = true ; // $ (window) .unbind ('scroll'); // console.log ("scroll loaded"); (function (d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName (s)[0]; if (d.getElementById (id)) return; js = d.createElement (s); js.id = id; js.async = true; js._https = true; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=148379388602322"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore (js, fjs); } (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // pre_loader (); // $ (window) .unbind ('mousemove'); // setTimeout (function () {// $ ('# boxTwitter'). html ("Tweets from @tayyar_org"); //}, 3000); var scriptTag = document.createElement (" script "); scriptTag.type =" text / javascript "scriptTag.src =" https://news.google.com/scripts/social. js "; scriptTag.async = true; document.getElementsByTagName (" head ")[0].appendChild (scriptTag); (function () {$ .getScript ("https://news.google.com/scripts/social.js", function () {});}); }}); //$(window).load(function () {// setTimeout (function () {// // add the returned content to a newly created script tag // var se = document.createElement ('script'); / / se.type = "text / javascript"; // //se.async = true; // se.text = "setTimeout (function () {pre_loader ();}, 5000);"; // document. getElementsByTagName ('body')[0].appendChild (se); //}, 5000); //});
[ad_2]
