By Faith Nyasuguta
Covid-19 vaccination is speeding up in Tunisia following the sudden rise in Covid-19 cases in the North African nation.
The nation that has been battling the highly infectious Delta variant is aiming at vaccinating 50 per cent of its population by mid-October
Residents are currently optimistic about the jabs and they hope the nation will hit its target.
“It was not optimal management, but they do what they can and we are on the right track, I believe,” one resident said.
“What happened is a great relief: they ousted the people in charge, people are getting vaccinated… The situation is finally beginning to improve,” one Mohammed Aziz, Tunis resident, 21 years old said.
At the El Menzah vaccination center, about 1,200 people received their Covid-19 vaccine jab in a single day, an official said.
The figure is a 300 per cent increase from previous days.
“At first, the figures were very low: around 400-500 citizens vaccinated per day. But yesterday there was a turnout of 1,200 vaccinated in one day, out of the 1,600-1,700 convened,” doctor Hela Kchir, a team leader at the vaccination center said.
For a while now, Tunisia has been in a critical situation.
The country is faced with the infectious delta strain and oxygen shortage in health centers.
Currently, the small-scale Maghreb state of about 12 million people has officially reported the worst Covid-19 fatalities at 20,000.