Emirates transports 3842k doses of bivalent oral polio vaccine to Uganda

April 26, 2020: Emirates has transported 3,842,000 doses of bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) to Uganda to support ongoing routine immunisation services throughout the country. 810,500 doses of Pentavalent Vaccines also procured by UNICEF with funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, are expected to arrive at Entebbe on April 282020.

The vaccines procured by UNICEF, with funding from the government of Uganda, arrived at Entebbe International Airport.

The doses, which will last for six months, will be administered to about 900,000 children below the age of one year. Pentavalent Vaccine is a combination of five vaccines in one: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type b and will also be administered to children under the age of one. 

Despite the challenges posed on the supply and delivery processes amidst Covid-19 related lockdowns, UNICEF is ensuring the delivery of strategic supplies for children to ensure uninterrupted immunisation services.

The vaccines were cleared at the airport by the National Medical Stores (NMS) and transported to their warehouse in Entebbe. From the warehouse, NMS will distribute the vaccines to all districts in the country as they routinely do for all vaccines in the national immunisation schedule.