Syria's Idlib receives first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines
Provided through the World Health Organization's COVAX program, the 53,800 AstraZeneca doses will go first to health care workers and first responders in the rebel-held territory.
The first shipment of coronavirus vaccines has arrived in Idlib province, the northwestern rebel enclave home to millions of impoverished Syrians.
The 53,800 AstraZeneca doses were provided through COVAX, the World Health Organization's global initiative to bring vaccinations to poorer countries. Over the next year, COVAX is scheduled to provide the Idlib region with 1.5 million vaccines.
According to Agence France-Presse, around noon on Wednesday, a truck carrying the vaccines crossed into Idlib from the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Turkish border. From there, the doses were unloaded and brought to a storage center where they could be kept cold.
Health workers and first responders are in the first group to be vaccinated, followed by the elderly. The Idlib region’s health department told the news agency that the three-week-long vaccination drive is scheduled to begin early next month.
