COVID-19 Vaccination Campaigns Kick Off in Hasakah Refugee Camps

COVID-19 vaccine campaign kicks off in Roj and Newroz camps in northeast Syria [Asharq Al-Awsat]

COVID-19 vaccine campaigns were launched on Monday in the refugee camps of Syria’s northeastern region of Hasakah, which is under the control of the Autonomous Administration.

The campaign kicked off by targeting the elderly and those with chronic diseases in Newroz Camp in the northern countryside of Derik.

The Autonomous Administration received last month 23,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX program, including 13,200 doses for Hasakah.

The WHO Country Office in Syria said it will provide logistical support to mobile vaccination teams in the region to ensure wider coverage and equitable access to the vaccines.

“The vaccination campaign will last for only one day in the Roj Camp,” said Serbest Hussam, the person in charge of the vaccinations in the Health center in Derik.

He said only 50 doses were given to people above 55 years old, and those with chronic diseases.

Around 750 families live in the camp, including Iraqi refugees, displaced Syrians, and ISIS families, according to the camp management.

Meanwhile, in the Newroz Camp, medical teams began giving the second dose of the vaccine to those who were vaccinated two months ago.

The camp houses about 300 families with a total of 1,650 people who were displaced from the regions of Afrin, Sere Kaniye, and Tel Abyad.

Also, only 50 doses of the vaccine were provided to people above 55 years old, and to those who are above 18 but have chronic diseases.

Hussam said medical teams launched an awareness campaign at the camps.

“We wanted to counter misleading information about the vaccine and the rumors about its side-effects,” he said.

On Monday, the Autonomous Administration reported three COVID-19 related deaths in areas under its control and 34 confirmed cases, bringing the total number of infections to 18,281, including 752 deaths.

The director of the medical point of the Kurdish Red Crescent in the camp, Mahmoud Ali, said that no COVID-19 infections were reported at both camps during the past month.