Tunisia gets high-end Covid-19 vaccine cold-storage from Japan
The equipment consists of 148 medical refrigerators, 955 remote thermometers and three cold storage facilities.
JOHANNESBURG, June 17 (ANA) – The health ministry in Tunisia has received a donation of high-end coronavirus vaccine cold-storage equipment from Japan, according to Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
The news agency reported on Wednesday that the North African country’s health minister Faouzi Mehdi told the media of a ceremony to distribute the equipment through UNICEF, which consists of 148 medical refrigerators, 955 remote thermometers and 3 cold storage facilities.
The Japanese ambassador in Tunisia and UNICEF representative attended the ceremony.
TAP also reported that the equipment will be made available to vaccination centres and primary healthcare centres throughout Tunisia.
Mehdi also highlighted that the pandemic has exposed the shortfalls of the healthcare system in the country, especially the lack of refrigeration equipment, recommended by the World Health Organisation.
“There are only 47 facilities in Tunisia, that is two percent of the cold-chain refrigeration system,” he said.
On June 10, AfricaNews reported that the country’s prime minister appealed to the health body at a meeting in Geneva to fast track vaccine provisions to accelerate the vaccination rollout in the country in order to revive Tunisia’s economy.
“We need to move up the timeframe for receiving (vaccines). We can not accept the deadlines of October and November. We insisted on the fact that our health system is a pride.
“We have experience in the field of immunization and great logistics in immunization, but we can no longer bear this pressure (of the lack of vaccine),” he said at the time.
Meanwhile in its latest update, the health ministry in Tunisia has reported 374,312 Covid-19 cases. The North African country has also recorded 326,329 recoveries and 13,721 coronavirus deaths thus far.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay
