YANGON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is expected to receive its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines on Friday, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said in a message to the public on Thursday.

Suu Kyi, as chairperson of the national-level Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment of COVID-19, said 1.5 million doses of vaccine will arrive in Myanmar which will be enough for 750,000 people.

Frontline health workers and volunteers will be prioritized to get inoculated, while government members, stakeholders who play the key role in helping the country get back on track, and members of Union Parliament will be next in line to be vaccinated, the state counsellor said.

The shots will be distributed to the high-risk groups including the elderly and people with underlying diseases, and people residing in the places with high density of population in the next round.

The vaccines will be given in two doses and the first dose is expected to be given next week while the second dose will follow 28 days after the first shot, Suu Kyi said.

Myanmar reported 445 new COVID-19 cases and 16 more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 136,166 infections and 3,013 deaths in total on Thursday, according to the Health and Sports Ministry.

The daily test positivity rate of COVID-19 was recorded at 2.3 percent, remaining below 5 percent for over one month since Dec. 18.

Over 2.21 million samples have been tested for the disease since the first infection was detected in Myanmar on March 23 last year. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)