The Lao Ministry of Health says it will purchase additional supplies of Covid-19 vaccines in 2022, allowing for further free vaccines to be provided to residents.
The ministry has asked the government to provide a budget for the purchase of more vaccines because the free vaccines received as part of the COVAX initiative will end this year, according to Vientiane Times.
The government is also hoping to receive financial assistance from members of the public and other donors.
The country’s national vaccination plan hopes to see 50 percent of the total population vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of this year, according to Lao Minister of Health, Dr. Bounfeng Phommalaisith.
Some 7.5 million doses of vaccine will arrive in Laos this year as part of donations by friendly countries.
However, with costs as high as USD 18 to immunize one person, some USD 100 million would be required to vaccinate the entire country, according to estimates by the Ministry of Health, World Bank, World Health Organization, and UNICEF.
The vaccination program is currently progressing well, with 1,387,083 first dose vaccines having been administered, covering 18.9% of the population.
Second dose vaccinations have reached 1,233,395, or 16.8% of the population.
