World health body plans to vaccinate 20% of Syrians in 2021

BEIRUT — A coronavirus vaccination campaign is expected to start in Syria in April when the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to oversee the inoculation of 20% of the population by 2021’s end, it said Tuesday.
The announcement came amid a sharp increase in cases in government-held parts of the war-torn country.
Medical staffs have been called to stay on alert to deal with coronavirus patients amid state media reports saying that intensive care units in Damascus’s state hospitals are full.
Among those infected earlier this month were President Bashar Assad and his wife Asma who are now both in a “state of recovery,” according to the presidency.
WHO said it doesn’t know what variant or variants are spreading in Syria because the country’s laboratory capacity is weak and it has sent samples to labs abroad for more information. Neighboring countries have seen both the United Kingdom and South African variants.
Akjemal Magtymova, WHO representative and head of mission in Syria said the country that had a pre-war population of 23 million people has registered nearly 50,000 coronavirus cases, of which 40% are in the last rebel stronghold in the Syria’s northwest along the border with Turkey.
More than 17,000 cases have been registered in government-held parts of Syria, while in areas controlled by Kurdish-led US-backed fighters there have been more than 9,000 cases, she said.
“I do believe that the real numbers are much higher,” said Magtymova about government-controlled areas during a virtual news conference.
Syria’s Health Ministry has registered nearly 17,600 cases, including 1,175 deaths, since the first case was registered in March last year.
Magtymova said the fatality ratio is highest in government areas, where out of every 100 people, 6.7 or 7 are likely to die. She added that the overall case fatality is 4.5 while in the northwest it is 3 and the northeast is 3.9.
Mahmoud Daher, the WHO representative responsible for northwest Syria, said there have been 411 deaths in the region, adding that there was a rise in cases between August and December.
Daher said the “curve has gone sharply down” recently but warned that the region will probably see an impact of the third wave that is happening in other territories as well as across the Turkish border.
There will be two routes through which vaccines will flow to Syria, according to Magtymova, WHO’s mission head.
The first, from Damascus, will cover government-held areas and those held by Kurdish fighters, while rebel-held areas will be supplied through the border with Turkey.
Magtymova said the northwest will receive 224,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India within a few weeks to cover 3% of the population, mainly health care workers.
She said another 912,000 doses for the rest of Syria will arrive through Damascus and will be mainly for health care workers and the elderly.
The first phase is expected to end in June and after that another batch of vaccines should arrive and “we are hoping by the end of December 2021 we cover 20% of the population across Syria.”
Syria’s health minister declined to name the ‘friendly country’ from where his government procured the vaccines announcing earlier this month that a vaccination campaign, without giving any details, has started.
Magtymova said WHO will need $38 million in donations to vaccinate 20% of Syrians to cover operation cost, mobile clinics, services, training, provision and administration of vaccines as well as surveillance and dealing with side effects.
Syria’s 10-year war and severe economic and financial crisis has left more than 80% of Syrians living under poverty levels and unable to afford PCR tests.

World health body plans to vaccinate 20% of Syrians in 2021