By Oumie Bojang
The French Government through United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday, handed over one hundred and fifty thousand doses of the J and J vaccines to Gambia in support of its fight against the spread of Covid-19.
Representing the World Health Organization country representative to the Gambia, WHO Covid-19 incident manager Dr Ifeanyi Udenweze said the donation is aimed at ending the further spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
“This is to further reinforce efforts by the health ministry in interrupting COVID 19 in the Gambia,” Dr. Udenweze added.
All vaccines are safe including COVID 19 vaccines. WHO encourages the people to avail themselves the opportunity to take the vaccine,” he urged.
Speaking on behalf of the EU Ambassador to the Gambia, Ms Enya Braun said the fight against the virus is a collective responsibility.
“Vaccines are vital but we all know that is not enough. We must continue to take steps to protect ourselves and others and we must follow public health measures as stated by the health ministry,” she urged.
She further called on the health minister to ensure large numbers of the population get vaccinated before the next tourism season.
deputising for the UNICEF country representative Gordan Jonathan Lewis, encouraged the government to vaccinate its population against the virus, while reassuring the government of more vaccines.
Health minister Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh assured the donors of the best use of the vaccines
“These vaccines would go a long way in fulfilling our vaccine requirement as a country,” Minister Samateh stated.
