Somali health ministry on Saturday said the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca remained safe and urged people to get vaccinated.
“We strongly urge the public to adhere advise from the ministry of health recommendations and to trust the vaccines’ benefits against COVID-19 to protect the health of our fellow citizens,” the Ministry said in a statement.
Minister Fowzia Abikar said majority of international medical regulatory agencies had confirmed the safety of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine following thorough investigation into the vaccine in the past week.
“Although, many European countries decided to temporarily suspend this vaccine during the investigation, most of those countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have officially stated they will resume Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccinations upon the official guidance from the European Medicines Agency issued on 18/03/2021,” the ministry said.
On Saturday, Somalia registered 42 new coronavirus infections out 604 samples that were tested in the past 24 hours.
The ministry of health said, a total of 9,968 cases have been confirmed since mid March last year when the country recorded its first case.
Five more people were reported to have recovered from the disease, hence the total number of recoveries is now at 4,424.
Unfortunately, 4 people have succumbed to coronavirus in the country, the total number of fatalities now being 419.
