KAMPALA: Uganda on Friday launched a mass vaccination campaign for yellow fever targeting at least 13.4 million people, reported Xinhua.
Minister of Health Ruth Aceng, who launched the campaign in the northern Ugandan district of Lira, said the exercise would be conducted in six regions.
“The Yellow Fever Preventative Mass Vaccination Campaign will be conducted in three phases. Phase I, which we are launching today, will be conducted in six regions covering 51 districts,“ Aceng said.
She said the phasing of the campaign was dictated by the worldwide shortage of yellow fever vaccines.
“However, we are lucky as a country that among the 55 million doses that were available globally, Uganda was allocated 13.4 million doses enough for phase one.”
The exercise will run between June 9 to 13 and the ministry called upon Ugandans to embrace the free and safe vaccination. All those aged between nine months and 60 years are eligible for the once-in-a-lifetime jab.
According to the ministry, yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Its symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, and jaundice. - Bernama
