Lebanon Rolls out Astrazeneca Vaccine on Monday

The Health Ministry will start rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine for people in the 55-65 years category, said Director of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital on Saturday.

Abiad said the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the lead hospital against the fight against COVID-19, “will be one of the designated centers.”

After reports linking the vaccine to an increased risk of blood clots, Abiad assured that “numerous studies have shown that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective. Millions of patients have received the vaccine in the UK, resulting in a sharp decline in Covid cases.”

He urged people to go for any brand of COVID-19 vaccine and not to wait of alternatives in order to stop the spread of the virus and a decline in virus cases.

“People offered the vaccine on Monday should not pass their chance, for their sake, and for the sake of their family and friends,” he said.

Lebanon’s national vaccination campaign began Feb. 14 and has been criticized as too slow and riddled by violations.

The World Bank has allocated $34 million to inoculate an initial two million of Lebanon's six million inhabitants free of charge with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine