Georgia still waiting for the Covid-19 vaccine
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Friday, March 5
Georgia has still not received any doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, which was supposed to be available in the country from the end of February. The officials of Georgia were saying that Georgia would be able to vaccinate its population using Pfizer.
Tengiz Tsertsvadze the Director General of the Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center, said that Georgia either has to wait for the internationally acclaimed vaccine or go with the Chinese one.
He said that two months ago, when they started talking about the possible adoption of the Chinese vaccine, it was followed by a huge backlash from the society, which was considered by the government.
“We should not use double standards when we talk about things like this. If you want to have a good quality vaccine for the country, then we have to wait two or three more weeks. The country will receive a gradual and sufficient number of vaccines. We will follow our annual vaccination plan and will be one of the most successful in terms of vaccination, just like we were in Covid-19 management,” said Tsertsvadze.
As for Paata Imnadze, he recently noted that the country has the best chances for Indian vaccine. He said that there is a huge deficit of vaccines in the world, creating some challenges for everyone. He also noted that as of now, Georgia is waiting for the vaccine from two different companies. Apart from India, Imnadze said that the Georgian representatives are also holding talks with Western and Chinese partners. He also noted that the country followed every requirement of Covax.
A special working group was set up in December in Georgia to ensure a smooth process of vaccination in the country. The main aim of the working group was to make sure that the country was ready for the vaccination process.
The first case of Covid-19 was reported in Georgia over a year ago, on February 26, 2020. Since then, the number of confirmed cases in Georgia has increased drastically, especially in the fourth quarter of 2020.
According to the official data, there have been as many as 271,872 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country. Out of these, 266,081 have already recovered, while 3553 have passed away.
