Ethiopia has planned to give COVID 19 vaccine for 20% of the population in the first phase. The front-line health care workers, the elderly people,( above the age of 55 years), people above 18 years old with comorbid conditions, teachers, IDPs, people in refugee camps, and people working in public service are among the prioritized people to take the vaccine.
The country has received 2.1 million doses of vaccine on March 4/2021. The vaccine is the AstraZeneca vaccine with 10 doses presentation. 0.5 ml dose will be given intramuscular (IM) on the left deltoid and will be stored in a temperature between +20c-- +80c and should be monitored two times daily. For maximum protection, a person should get 2 doses of vaccine within 8 to 12 weeks interval.
The already arrived vaccine will cover the front-line health care workers who are the top priority to be vaccinated due to their vulnerability with regard to the working condition. After the vaccination of the front-line health care workers, the elderly people and people above 18 years old with comorbid conditions will be vaccinated.
To provide the vaccine for the planned targets, prior registration of the target groups will be one of the major pre-implementation activities required from all regions and city administrations. The front-line health care worker list will be available in each health facility so the woreda health office should take the responsibility to register them. The people with comorbid conditions, their information is available in health facility chronic diseases registration. And the problem is that lack of information about the elderly people. So in each kebele the health extension workers are responsible to register these elderly people