First batch of Coronavirus vaccines from India lands in Kabul

Afghanistan received its first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) confirmed.

The shipment was transported from Mumbai, India to Kabul by Air India early Sunday morning.

Wahid Majroh, Acting Minister for the MoPH stated that Afghanistan received 500,000 doses of the Indian-made Covishield vaccine.

Majroh told reporters that health workers and frontline workers will be the first to get the vaccine.

“Senior citizens and patients with chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes will receive the vaccine from this batch in the second phase,” Majroh said.

Afghanistan has recorded 24 new COVID-19 active cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of affected people to 55,359.

The cases were registered in Kabul (4), Herat (2), Balkh (2), Nangarhar (8), Kunduz (2), Nimroz (3), Kunar (1), Faryab (1), and Panjsher (1).

In the daily Coronavirus update, the MoPH said that three patients – one in Kabul, one in Takhar, and one in Kunduz – have died of the virus in the last 24 hours, while 14 others were discharged from hospitals.

So far, 2,413 people have died of COVID-19, and 48,041 others have recovered since the first case was detected last year.