Upjit Singh Sachedeva has led several members of the Indian Community in Liberia to take their first dose of the AstraZeneca Vaccine for COVID-19 prevention.
The former Honorary Consul General of India to Liberia known as “Jetty” and delegation on Sunday April 18, 2021, joined other nationals including Pakistanis, Syrians, Lebanese and Liberians, among others.
About 357 persons took the Vaccine that was administered at the Indian Church in Mamba Point, Monrovia on that day.
Speaking to journalists at the Gurdwara Sahib Temple in Mamba Point, Jetty said the people of India are grateful to the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health for affording them the opportunity to take their first COVID-19 Vaccine in the country.
According to him, it was based on his request to the Ministry of Health through Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah that the team responsible were allowed to give the vaccine to the Indian Community in Monrovia.
He disclosed that the other dose of the Astra Zeneca Vaccine will be given to them on June 28, 2021 at the same venue to complete the total dose of the Vaccine.
“Health is important to everybody because once you are vaccinated, you are not saving yourself, but you are saving everyone that is associated with you including family, workmates and other workers,” Jetty stated.
He urged Liberians to take the COVID-19 Vaccine despite rumors that it has negative effects; a notion he dispelled revealing that he took the vaccine since two weeks and has not experienced any negative effect.
The Manager of the Expanding Program on Immunization (EPI) at the Ministry of Health, Adolphus T. Clarke, commended the Indian nationals for showing the true meaning of statesmanship by reaching out to the Minister of Health to allow Indians in the country take the Covid-19 Vaccine.
Mr. Clarke said that the government is making sure that people who are contributing to the economy of the country are protected from the pandemic and that the Ministry of Health is surprised at the huge turnout of people who took the vaccine in preparation to end the pandemic.
However, he disclosed that about 2,700 Liberians have already been vaccinated so far as the Ministry is yet to receive reports from all 10 sites where the vaccinations are taking place.