Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

World Health Organization in Azerbaijan representative Hande Harmanci has said that the vaccination process against COVID-19 is progressing rapidly in Azerbaijan and the organization is pleased with this, Trend has reported.

She stressed that WHO is always ready to support Azerbaijan in this sphere.

"Health workers from Azerbaijan were registered in 2021 to participate in the OpenWHO platform courses. This platform is being implemented as part of the 'Solidarity for Health' and 'Support for COVID-19 Vaccine' initiatives," she added.

Single call center

Health Minister Teymur Musayev stated that a single call center will be created under the ministry.

He noted that every citizen will be able to solve their medical problem by applying to the call center.

According to him, every citizen will be able to solve his medical problem by applying to the call center of the ministry.

"Appeals will be also accepted at the new website of the ministry. They will be answered immediately," he said.

Quarantine regime

Noting that some 90 million people around the world have been infected with the Omicron strain of COVID-19 over the past 10 weeks, the minister emphasized that the situation with coronavirus in Azerbaijan is currently under full control.

He noted that in addition to Omicron, cases of infection with the Delta strain are still being recorded.

" After some time, the percentage of infections with these strains will be made public. At present, there is no need to impose restrictive measures. The issue of a possible tightening of the quarantine regime may be considered depending on how the COVID-19 situation progresses," he said.

Moreover, Musayev noted that there may be delays in the COVID-19 testing process due to a big number of appeals. He stated that this is also explained by the fact that citizens appeal to the laboratories of medical institutions for other reasons, as well.

"Citizens call 103 even when mild symptoms appear. In this case, it would be more correct to contact the polyclinic at the place of residence," he added.

Turkovac vaccine

The minister added that the third phase of clinical trials of the Turkish Turkovac vaccine against COVID-19 will be held in Azerbaijan.

He stated that the technical issues are currently being resolved.

“The protocols were handed over to the working group. Additional information on this issue will be disclosed," he said.

Strengthening of human capital

The minister also emphasized that the ministry's goal in the medium term is to strengthen the human capital in the health sector.

He noted that from the first days of the pandemic in Azerbaijan, medical facilities equipped with the latest equipment were made available to coronavirus patients in a short period of time.

"At present, the ministry is not the only agency working in the field of health care. Steps are planned in the short and medium-term to bring our health care to a qualitatively new level. Our goal in the medium term is to strengthen human capital in healthcare" he said.

On February 28, 2020, the country confirmed its first COVID-19 case. On March 25, the country implemented a special quarantine regime and implemented a number of measures to combat COVID-19 in the country. The COVID-19 Omicron variant was first detected on January 10 in Azerbaijan.

Vaccination has been carried out in Azerbaijan since January 18, 2021, and it is still being carried out successfully. The epidemiological situation in Azerbaijan remains stable due to the active participation of the population in vaccination.

The nationwide vaccination is free and voluntary, and it is in accordance with the "Vaccination Strategy Against COVID-19 in Azerbaijan for 2021-2022."

The country began vaccinating citizens with China's Sinovac on January 18, AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria vaccine on May 3, Russia's Sputnik V on May 18, and Pfizer from the United States on June 7. From May 10, the country began offering COVID-19 vaccination to citizens over the age of 18.

Simultaneously, on August 9, Azerbaijan began issuing vaccination exemption certificates to citizens who have 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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