Lebanon’s COVID-19 vaccination plan has moved more slowly than hoped for. (Credit: Marc Fayad)
BEIRUT — People between the ages of 24 and 29 who registered by July 31 to take the COVID-19 vaccine will start receiving appointments, officials said Wednesday morning.
Here’s what we know:
• The Health Ministry will begin a campaign to vaccinate those born between 1992 and 1997 who registered on Lebanon’s Impact platform before August.
• Those eligible will receive the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine.
• This is a slight expansion of those receiving vaccines: those between the ages of 25 and 29 who registered before March were invited to be inoculated starting in July.
• Only about a quarter of Lebanon’s population has received any vaccine, with the Health Ministry reporting 1.27 million having received their first shot. Just over 1 million people have been fully vaccinated.
• Lebanon is facing a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with 1,558 new cases confirmed yesterday.
• The number of people in ICU has also risen to 165. While vaccines are not 100 percent effective, especially against the virulent Delta variant, they are credited with lessening the severity and mortality of the disease.