Lebanon Vaccination Campaign Should Accelerate, Says Abiad

Lebanon’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19 should accelerate to help control the virus spread, director of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital Doctor Firass Abiad said on Tuesday.

“The vaccine roll out now should gather pace, and we all have to fight vaccine hesitancy. Vigilance is still required, Covid is a treacherous virus. Human behavior remains our worst enemy. Human scientific endeavor, meanwhile, have proven it is our best hope,” said Abiad in a tweet.

Lebanon on Monday rolled out the Astrazeneca vaccine for people in the 55-65 years category. The inoculation campaign began in mid-February after finalizing a deal for some 2 million doses with Pfizer.

Abiad noted a “recent decline in Covid infections among healthcare workers is undoubtedly due to vaccines. As more individuals receive the increasingly available vaccine, a similar drop will be seen countrywide. Still, 78 deaths were reported in the past 2 days.”

He said that the “majority of deaths occurred in patients older than 75 years, a category where more than 50% have been vaccinated. Yet it is still early, the reported fall in hospitalization is a good sign. Of course, it is premature to celebrate. Two issues can still derail the recovery.”

Abiad urged compliance with wearing masks and maintaining safe social distance, because “a drop in cases may encourage people to be more complacent. This has triggered new Covid surges in the past.”