Again, the world has come to Liberia’s aid, like they did during the 2014 deadly Ebola virus disease crisis. This time, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other major international health partners, including the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (Gavi), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), have all put together to send Liberia a consignment of 96,000 Covax Facility vaccines to battle the deadly Covid_19. Another consignment is expected in May. A total of 384,000 doses have been set to come to Liberia.
Just as they did for this nation during the Ebola crisis, from 2014 to 2016, they have come again.
During the Ebola crisis, WHO and other international health stakeholders, including Medicin Sans Frontier (MSF), Samaritan’s Purse, etc, tripled their works in order to get sick Liberians well and to take care of their dead. At the inception of the Ebola crisis, dead body became one major source of contracting the virus’ infection.
The year 2014 and the month March are forever going to be engrained in the minds of most Liberians. It was the month and year that Ebola was first reported to have surfaced in Liberia after it had earlier been reported in December 2013 in neighboring Guinea. For the next two years, a number of lives were destroyed, and their lifeless bodies were cremated, totally against the burial tradition of the people of Liberia. More than 5000 Liberians and other nationalities perished at the hands of this monster killer. Millions of dollars were spent on helping Liberia during the crisis and on its economic recovery process.
While the nation bled profusely trying to get rid of its ignorance about this strange killer that had come to its shores for the first time since it was discovered in the 1970s in East Africa, it also became a learning and knowing curve for every Liberian especially the nation’s strong men and women, who are usually in white, blue and purple linen suits — health workers.
Because Liberia learned a lot at managing and handling the disease, when the second and third waves broke out, they were very easily handled and dealt with by everyone especially the health workers. Since the crisis, Liberia has always been asked during most international gatherings, to give tutorials to other nation’s health teams on how to handle the Ebola virus. All of this could not have happened had the world not come to the aid of Liberia, like they did again on early Saturday morning, March 6.
A Euro Wings jumbo jet landed at the Roberts International Airport and offloaded two ‘Jetainers’, which contained six huge boxes of 96,000 doses of the Covid_19 vaccines.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) Liberia representatives, who turned over the boxes to Liberia through the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Health, the boxes containing the 96,000 COVID_19 vaccine doses were flown via the COVAX initiative, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO.
The United States, Team Europe (the European Union and the European Union Member States), the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada are among the main donors to the COVAX Facility.
“The arrival of the vaccines in Liberia is part of the historic step towards achieving the goal of equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally, in what will be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history. This delivery is part of a first wave of shipments that will continue to different countries in the coming days and weeks,” UNICEF said in a statement.
UNICEF further stated that the arrival of the 96,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), marks the first batch of vaccine shipped to Liberia by the COVAX initiative as part of its unprecedented efforts to deliver at least 2 billion doses of the vaccine globally by the end of 2021.
Liberia has also received 97,000 syringes — 1000 more — and 600 safety boxes that will be used for the administration and disposal of immunization wastes. The syringes are vital as the vaccine itself and it is critical to have adequate supply of syringes in Liberia ahead of the arrival of the vaccine.
When Foreign Minister Dee Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr, and Health Minister, Dr. Wilhelmina S. Jallah received the boxes, they lauded WHO and partners including the Covax Facility, for ensuring Liberia becomes a recipient of the Covax vaccines.
Foreign Minister Kemayah assured the WHO, the COVAX Facility and other international partners that the receipt of the vaccine will in no way make Liberia complacent in its fight against the global pandemic.
We want to join the Government of Liberia in thanking the Covax Facility for helping us to help ourselves.
