Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) representative office in Azerbaijan, Hande Harmanci, has said that the Omicron strain of coronavirus has not yet been detected in the country, Trend reported on December 10.

She made the remarks at a meeting with Ganja city executive head Niyazi Bayramov.

Speaking about the new strain of COVID-19, Harmanci stressed that among children and adolescents aged 5-14, cases of infection with Delta and Omicron strains had become more frequent.

Harmanci described all existing coronavirus vaccines as effective against the Omicron strain.

"Although the new strain has not been detected in Azerbaijan, this does not mean that Omicron will not enter the country. Coronavirus mutations are spreading around the world, and the new strain will be detected wherever there is a virus. But there is no need to worry. All of the vaccines used are also effective against the new omicron strain," she said.

She added that in the areas where the vaccination process is actively underway, the number of deaths from coronavirus has decreased.

“Getting the first dose of the vaccine is important, but the vaccine has an effect after the second dose. Health workers, persons 65 years of age and older, and pregnant women should be vaccinated. Recently, experts have spoken out that pregnant women should also be vaccinated,” she said.

The country confirmed its first COVID-19 case on February 28, 2020. The country introduced a special quarantine regime on March 25 and took a number of measures to fight COVID-19 in the country.

The nationwide vaccination is free and on a voluntary basis and is in line with the “Strategy of vaccination against COVID-19 in Azerbaijan for 2021-2022”.

The country started vaccinating citizens using China’s Sinovac on January 18, Vaxzevria vaccine produced by AstraZeneca on May 3, Russia’s Sputnik V on May 18, and U.S-produced Pfizer on June 7. The country started offering COVID-19 vaccination to citizens aged over 18 from May 10.

At the same time, as of August 9, Azerbaijan started issuing vaccination exemption certificates for citizens with contraindications to coronavirus vaccines approved for use in the country.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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