The government has ring-fenced 300,000 doses of Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccines to inoculate teachers after the consignment was received at the end of last month as the government moves to vaccinate 22 million people to pave the way for a safe reopening of the economy.
The Education ministry spokesperson, Dr Dennis Mugimba, yesterday confirmed in a telephone interview that Minister Janet Museveni and her Health counterpart, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, have agreed to prioritize vaccinating teachers, critical staff and students in tertiary institutions using Sinovac jabs.
The Education ministry has since met with district, city and municipal education officers and Kampala Capital City Authority to identify the targeted beneficiaries.
Dr Immaculate Ampaire, the Deputy Manager of the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization confirmed the move to ring-fence the Sinovac vaccines for teachers.
Those who received the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first dose will not be eligible for Sinovac as a booster dose because there is no evidence to support the mixing of the two vaccines. END
