By Our Reporter

28th July 2021

 

Uganda is to receive at least 300,000 doses of the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese Government this Saturday, according to the new Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong.

This will be the first consignment of another type of vaccine to come to Uganda after AstraZeneca which has been used to inoculate more than one million people since the start of the exercise in March.

The Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine was validated in June by the World Health Organization-WHO for emergency use, giving countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities the assurance that it meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing.

The vaccine is produced by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac.

The organization recommended its use as two doses with an interval of 2–4 weeks between the first and second dose.

Sinovac has delivered more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine, to countries like Brazil, Turkey, Philippines, Indonesia and Chile among others.

The arrival of the Sinovac consignment was confirmed at a meeting in State House, Entebbe, where the new ambassador was presenting his credentials to President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday evening.

During the meeting, Museveni hailed the excellent relationship between Uganda and China especially the support in the economic fields and added that Uganda is looking forward to scientific cooperation with China in the development of the COVID-19 vaccines.

For his part, Lizhong said that China will continue to support the economic transformation and industrialization of Uganda, and will encourage more Chinese investors to come and do business in Uganda as the investment environment and security are very conducive.

Meanwhile President Museveni also welcomed the new UN Resident Coordinator to Uganda, Susan Ngongi Namondo wo is replacing Rosa Malango, with whom they discussed issues of mutual interest between Uganda and the United Nations particularly environmental conservation and refugees.


Wednesday 28th July 2021 08:50:07 PM