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151 200 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated by Japan arrive in Syria
DAMASCUS, 23 January 2022 – Syria has recently received 151 200 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Government of Japan through the COVAX Facility. The donation is part of the continuous efforts to protect people of Syria from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Government of Japan has provided approximately 150 000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in Japan, through the COVAX Facility, to the people of Syria, as part of assistance by Japan to contribute to the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 in Syria. Japan will continue to provide various assistance in cooperation with relevant countries and international organizations towards the earliest convergence of COVID-19,” said Mr Akira Endo, Special Coordinator for Syria and Charge d’Affairs, Embassy of Japan in Syria.
Since the pandemic began in March 2020, Syria has reported a total of 50 502 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including 2926 deaths. The vaccine coverage in Syria is among the lowest in the world. Only 4.8% of the total population have been fully vaccinated to date. Ensuring a predictable and equitable distribution of the vaccines as well as enhancing their uptake will be critical in vaccinating and keeping more vulnerable Syrians safe.
“I am grateful to the Government of Japan, long-standing supporter of Syria, for this timely contribution of COVID-19 vaccines,” said Akjemal Magtymova, Head of Mission and WHO Representative in Syria. “Along with other impactful donations to the health sector, this batch will help save more lives as we curb the pandemic,” Dr Magtymova added.
WHO and UNICEF, together with partners, continue supporting efforts to provide safe and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines through microplanning, managing cold chain systems, training vaccinators, and promoting the safety and uptake of the vaccine.
“I would like to thank the Government of Japan for providing Syria these much-needed doses,” said UNICEF Syria Representative, Bo Viktor Nylund. “When we vaccinate more people, particularly healthcare workers, we can continue providing essential and lifesaving health services for Syrian children and their families,” he added.
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Notes to editor
Just over 2 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 have been administered to date. Only 4.8% of the total population have been fully vaccinated, most with two doses, and 9.4% have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The numbers above do not include the figures from northwest of Syria. In the northwest, more than 268 600 people have received their first dose and nearly 136 500 people their second one.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org.
About WHO
The World Health Organization works with 194 Member States across six regions and from more than 150 offices to provide global leadership in public health, promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing. For more information about WHO and its health agenda, visit www.who.int.
For more information, please contact:
Eva Hinds
UNICEF Syria
+963 950 044 304
Gulalek Soltanova
+963 953 888 477
Independent evaluation of WHO’s Whole of Syria response, 2021
13 January 2022 – The evaluation, commissioned by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, with support from the WHO Evaluation Office, assessed WHO’s emergency response in Syria due to the conflict from 2016 to 2020, including its strategy, interventions, operations, performance and results, as well as its engagement and coordination with partners toward these same ends.
It included operations conducted through the main office in Damascus and sub-offices within Syria, cross-border operations from Gaziantep, previous cross-border work from Erbil and Amman, Whole of Syria Health Cluster coordination from Amman, and support and coordination from the WHO Regional Offices for the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe and WHO headquarters. It generated comprehensive learning on WHO’s operations and performance in Syria, while informing WHO’s humanitarian work in emergency contexts elsewhere, the policy and practice of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme and WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work.
Final report: Independent evaluation of WHO’s Whole of Syria response
EU bolsters WHO’s COVID-19 response in Syria
23 December 2021, Damascus – The EU is allocating an additional €1 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Syria to strengthen the COVID-19 response. The humanitarian funding will primarily be used to increase testing capacity and scale up vaccination across Syria.
Health services in Syria are overstretched, the health workforce is working around the clock, and supplies and resources are depleting quickly to address the increased demands of the COVID-19 response.
“WHO continues to provide critical support to respond to the prolonged fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Syria. We appreciate the EU’s latest contribution which will help operationalize vaccination teams to administer newly delivered vaccines and enhance COVID-19 testing capacity to contain emerging cases,” said Dr Akjemal Magtymova, Head of Mission and WHO Representative. “Vaccine hesitancy remains the biggest challenge. We call on all partners to join forces in order to increase vaccine uptake and curb the pandemic.”
The funds will enable WHO to cover part of the vaccination’s operational costs in the coming months and to support 840 vaccinators at fixed facilities; 770 vaccinators at mobile centres in both accessible and hard-to-reach areas; 510 supervisors; 148 supply officers; and transportation costs.
European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “EU support to WHO in Syria is crucial to ensure COVID-19 testing and vaccination capacity are urgently stepped up. We need to stand by the Syrians who are threatened by this pandemic, in addition to suffering the continued consequences of conflict and economic hardship. The EU is committed to shielding the most vulnerable people and caregivers from COVID-19’s full force.”
In northwest Syria, WHO will supply COVID-19 PCR kits and sample collection kits to enable 70,000 additional tests at six laboratories. The number of vaccination teams will increase from 40 to 61 by May 2022; 21 teams will be based at fixed health facilities and 40 others will be mobile, targeting people in hard-to-reach areas and camps for displaced people in northwest Syria.
In September this year, the EU contributed €1.5 million to support laboratories and non-governmental organizations in responding to the pandemic. The new €1 million contribution will help maximize efforts to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases in Syria.
Media contact
Gulalek Soltanova
External Relations / Communications Officer
WHO Syria Office, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
+963 953 888 477
Health care workers and frontline community workers in Syria play a critical role in creating the demand for vaccines
14 November 2021 – This week, as key players in creating demand for vaccine, Syrian health care workers built their capacities and strengthened skills in managing vaccine hesitancy as part of the COVID-19 response. The interactive training organized by the Ministry of Health and WHO, in partnership with UNICEF, IFRC and SARC aims to identify and address issues that may affect vaccine uptake in the community – issues that include health workers’ personal concerns and beliefs about vaccination.
“Availability and accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines do not automatically guarantee an effective rollout and uptake among the Syrian population. As more COVID-19 vaccines are delivered to Syria, all concerned sectors are joining hands to facilitate vaccine roll out and acceptance to reach the national target of 20% by the end of the year,” said Dr Akjemal Magtymova, Head of Mission and WHO Representative in Syria.
Our collective work now is not limited to combating COVID-19, but also building national capacities and skills to address strategically vaccine hesitancy, rumours and misinformation that may pose an even more serious threat. Throughout the ongoing vaccination process and as more vaccines have become available, the health care workforce will play a critical role in supporting effective risk communication and community engagement to promote the safety and efficacy of vaccines to help increase the vaccination rates.
