The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said Monday that only 377 vaccination centers are operating across Afghanistan, where more than 8,000 Afghan visit daily to get vaccinated.
The ministry further said that at least 1,200 vaccination centers were active previously across Afghanistan.
“There were many centers last year. We had over 1,200 centers, but, as we all know, support for fighting COVID-19 stopped with the political changes and the return of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan, so the number of centers was reduced,” said Jawid Hazhir, Spokesman of MoPH.
Based on the figures of the ministry, at least 5.8 million people have been vaccinated since the spread of the infection across Afghanistan, and 2.9 million doses of vaccines are available at the ministry.
“Around 8.5 million have received vaccination from the beginning of the process until now, and 4.3 million of them were vaccinated under the Islamic Emirate power across the country,” said Jawid Hazhir, spokesman.
In the meantime, health staff and residents urged the Ministry of Health to take huge steps toward fighting COVID-19 and to provide care for the people.
“People will hurt a lot if the pandemic increases in our country, because most of the provinces face a lack of options,” said Abdul Hameed Alimi Zhakfar, head of a COVID-19 hospital in Parwan.
Officials stated that the ministry is seeking ways to launch awareness campaigns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by distributing vaccines within the country.
Health officials said that Afghanistan has so far received over 900,000 doses of the India-made AstraZeneca vaccine.
Based on the figures, 67684 members of the health system, 18,447 teachers, 3792 elderly people, 1,602 govt employees and 1,904 media workers have so far been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, doctors at the Afghan-Japan hospital in Kabul have said that those recently diagnosed with COVID-19 have recently traveled from Iran and Pakistan.
“It has 75 percent effectiveness even on the patients, but the immunity on the healthy people is about 96 percent,” said Mustafa Lais, the head of COVID-19 combat cell at the Ministry of Public Health.
“On the recommendation of the World Health Organization, we also included the most vulnerable segment of the society and the elderly people or those who are suffering from chronic diseases,” said Lais.
“More people are consulting us on a daily basis since March,” said Mohammad Tariq Akbari, the head of Afghan-Japan hospital.
Currently, up to 70 cases of COVID-19 are being registered in Afghanistan.
“I was admitted to the hospital five days ago, I feel pain in my heart, my side and lungs,” said Khadija, a COVID-19 patient.
Statistics show that so far over 56,000 people across Afghanistan have tested positive for COVID-19, from which 69 cases appear to be the new variant of the virus. 2,500 people are reported dead from COVID-19.
Experts say that the exact figures are much higher than the government figures.—Tolonews
