China has donated 50,000 jabs of its Sinopharm vaccine to Lebanon, upon the request of the Lebanese state, the Chinese ambassador Wang Kejian announced on Monday through his Twitter account.
Lebanon launched its vaccination drive a couple of weeks ago upon receiving its first shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, followed by more, all with the help from the World Bank aiming for Lebanon to gradually cover 2 million of its 6 million population.
About 50,000 people only have been vaccinated so far in Lebanon while over 20 Lebanese firms, which are officially authorized to import vaccines, were unable as of yet to secure a deal.
Hence, this donation by China of its Sinopharm vaccine comes as a good help for Lebanon to inoculate 50,000 more people.
That’s in addition of Lebanon expecting soon the arrival of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
“Lebanon needs to administer 30,000 shots daily if it is to reach herd immunity in one year,” stated Dr. Firass Abiad, a top health expert in Lebanon. “Only 15% of eligible individuals have registered so far, as the vaccination drive gains momentum, more will do so.”
However, Dr. Abiad noted that one requirement needs to be met before the inoculation process triumphs: “No more set backs allowed.”
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