Azerbaijan to offer COVID vaccines to 12-15-year-olds

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

In Azerbaijan, citizens aged 12-15 can be vaccinated against COVID-19, the Health Ministry has reported.

The decision was taken given the current epidemiological situation and the official permission of the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration for the vaccination of teenagers with the mRNT Pfizer (Comirnaty).

Under the decision, 12 -15-year-olds can be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the appropriate medical indications and consent of both parents.

It was noted that the vaccination of teenagers of the shown age will be carried out in a centralized manner at the Baku Health Center.

Earlier, last month, the ministry adopted a decision to vaccinate adolescents aged 16-18 against COVID-19 in exceptional cases.

The nationwide vaccination is free and on a voluntary basis and is in line with the “Strategy of vaccination against COVID-19 in Azerbaijan for 2021-2022”.

The country started vaccinating citizens using China’s Sinovac on January 18, Vaxzevria vaccine produced by AstraZeneca on May 3, Russia’s Sputnik V on May 18 and US-produced Pfizer on June 7. The country started offering COVID-19 vaccination to citizens aged over 18 from May 10.

At the same time, as of August 9, Azerbaijan started issuing vaccination exemption certificates for citizens with contraindications to coronavirus vaccines approved for use in the country.

It should be noted that as of September 1, residents over 18 are required to have COVID-19 vaccines for use services of public catering establishments, hotels and large trade centers. COVID-19 passports were first applied as of May 31 for entry to sports and recreational centers and later for entry to concerts and weddings. In addition, a COVID-19 passport is required for attending the wedding ceremonies.

Azerbaijan confirmed its first COVID-19 case on February 28, 2020. The country introduced a special quarantine regime on March 25 and took a number of measures to fight COVID-19 in the country.