UMC Victoria Hospital in conjunction with the Ministry of Health will now offer free COVID-19 vaccination to Ugandans in yet another boost in the fight against Coronavirus.
The free vaccination exercise was launched on Thursday March 18, making UMC Victoria Hospital the first private hospital to be accredited by the Health Ministry to administer the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccines.
These vaccines are part of the COVAX facility received by the Government of Uganda.
UMC’s Managing Director – Dr. Anurag Shah together with a number of staff at the hospital received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the presence of a group of journalists and some members of the public.
Speaking at the launch of the exercise, Dr. Anurag had this to say, “We led the COVID-19 fight in the private sector so we are very happy that the Ministry of Health chose to start the private sector vaccination program with us.”
He further explained that while everyone else was quarantined at home, a number of UMC Victoria staff worked 24 hours a day, living in the hospital premises for over 2 months.
“We are therefore happy that our staff have been considered at the start of the vaccination program.”
Dr. Anurag urged all Ugandans to take the vaccine, pointing out that just like any other medicine and vaccine inclusive of Hepatitis B, Polio and many others, a small number of people may develop some side-effects but that doesn’t render the vaccine unsafe.
“It is time to break the cycle as our economy cannot afford a large second or third wave,” he added.
The vaccine in question is the 2-dose Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine that is currently widely being used to vaccinate millions in Europe and the United States of America. The vaccine was developed by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group with the collaboration of the Italian manufacturer Advent Srl located in Pomezia.
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