Lebanon Wednesday recorded 20 new coronavirus-related deaths and 1,274 cases as caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan said the final agreement with Pfizer for reserving and acquiring a potential vaccine would be sealed on Dec. 12.
Among the newly recorded cases, only three were among travelers arriving from abroad, bringing the total number of positive cases in Lebanon to 140,409 since the virus was first detected in the country in late February. The total number of deaths now stands at 1,156.
A total of 15,286 PCR tests have been administered in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 14.1 percent.
“The final agreement with Pfizer will be sealed on Dec. 12 because the company will get the approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration on Dec. 10,” Hasan said.
Hasan added that it had been agreed at a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh Tuesday that a $4 million down payment would be made to Pfizer, .
The caretaker health minister added that logistic preparations for the arrival of the vaccine are ongoing through equipping 20 coronavirus centers in different districts with specialized freezers to store the vaccine, as well as preparing a list of the names of vulnerable people who will get the vaccine as soon as it arrives.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
