KABUL (SW) – The delta variant of COVID-19 continued to cause more infections and deaths with high rates in Afghanistan as the US vowed to provide at least 3 million doses of the vaccines for the war-ravaged country.
Fresh figures by the Ministry of Public Health on Friday said that out of 4540 tests conducted in past 24 hours, at least 1532 more people proved to be infected while 71 more lives were lost to the pandemic. With this, the overall number of infections surged to 113,124 and the corresponding deaths to 4594.
- India to provide 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine
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The U.S. plans to give Afghanistan three million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as the country is facing a surge of coronavirus cases, a senior administration official said on Thursday. The official said the doses could be sent as early as next week along with other supplies such as oxygen.
“As we continue to undertake our security transition, Afghanistan has experienced a significant COVID outbreak of the Delta variant, and we will be providing 3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the people of Afghanistan to be shipped as soon as next week, pending logistics,” deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “We are also providing oxygen and other supplies.”
As per the Hill report, Afghanistan is short on oxygen and vaccines it needs to combat the surge of coronavirus cases happening in the country. The gravity of the surge is unclear as testing has been limited in the country.
Along with limited oxygen, the country has vaccinated only 1 percent of its population with the country only having a few doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine or the AstraZeneca vaccine from India.
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