KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Public Health, while stressing the need for effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccination, said the number of people getting the jab has increased from 7,000 to 21,000 on a daily basis. India, China, the US, Italy, Austria, Sweden, France and some international organizations have delivered millions of doses of Covid vaccines to Afghanistan.
Officials of the former government had said that Afghanistan needed 42 million doses of such vaccines. Dr. JavedHajir, spokesman for MoPH, told Pajhwok Afghan News the number of people receiving the vaccine daily had increased from 7,000 to 21,000.
“Based on MoPH plans, we have stepped up the process of vaccination. About 21,000 people are vaccinated daily and the process is going on smoothly,” he added. Hajir called on citizens, who had not yet received the vaccine, to get vaccinated in order to prevent the outbreak of the virus. The total number of people vaccinated was more than 7.5 million, he said, adding that more than 3.4 million of them had been vaccinated since the fall of the previous administration.
Hajir called the role of vaccine vital in preventing the virus and said it was the only way to boost immunity against the disease. As MoPH did not have adequate resources, he warned, if citizens did not take the virus seriously and refused to receive the vaccine, the number of positive cases and deaths would mount.
According to him, diagnostic kits and PCR machines were available but advanced machines were needed to detect the virus. Referring to the need for oxygen, he said, they had decided to build 10 plants in 10 provinces with the help of UNICEF. The ministry says Afghanistan has recorded more than 159,000 coronavirus cases and over 7,300 deaths.
A vaccinator in the Lacy Maryam Vacciantion Centre in capital Kabul on the condition of anonymity told Pajhwok Afghan News public were getting more interest in Covid-19 vaccination now compared to the past. He said two months ago 100 to 200 people would arrive for vaccination but currently 300 to 500 people come for Covid-19 vaccine administration. Referring to the fact why people were getting more interest in Covid-19 vaccination, he said: “There are many reasons — one is that people started believing that Covid-19 is a deadly virus, second is that some people want to go abroad and want to have Covid-19 vaccination card.”
The vaccinator termed Covid-19 vaccine vital for preventing Covid-19 and asked people to ensure their and their family safety by getting vaccinated against Covid-19. Lemah Munib, one of the Kabul residents who recently got vaccinated, said yesterday she went to one of her classmates’ house and when she entered the house she noticed that their mother has Covid-19. “I had no option to runaway, I had to sit there for half an hour and then returned my home.”
She said she was really afraid of Covid-19. Thus the next day she referred to the hospital and got vaccinated against Covid-19. Samim, a resident of Kabul City 15th Police District, said: “I just got vaccinated and I am really happy. I want all my countrymen and women to get vaccinated against Covid-19.” He said he was feeling little tired but the fact that he was safe against Covid-19 he was happy.
He asked all people and particularly individuals who are on the verge of danger against Covid-19 to get vaccinated. According to the Ministry of Public Health, around 840,000 people had been tested for Covid-19 since the inception of the virus out of which 160,000 tested positive and around 8,000 people died from the virus.
