The Director General of Rafik Hariri University Hospital Firas Abiad said today on twitter that the decision taken by European countries to back AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, saying the shots were not associated with an overall increase in blood clots is great news.

Abiad said that Spunitk V and Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines will arrive soon to Lebanon. “This will boost the vaccination campaign, and improve the slow process in inoculating citizens,” he added.

The country has recorded 3,757 news coronavirus infections on Thursday, raising the cumulative number to-date 426,977.

Additionally 73 new deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours bringing the total number to 5,536, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Abiad said that this is the highest record since several weeks, stating that the number of coronavirus tests increased by 20 percent.

He added that the economic situation is impacting the hospitals and the medical staff severely, and this is leading them to consider immigration, “for this reason it was great to hear that AstraZeneca was backed by European countries,” he said.

Abiad stated that hospitals will be crowded in the coming weeks with coronavirus patients hoping that it will be capable to receive the increasing number of cases.

He reiterated that citizens should continue taking the preventive and safety measures through using face masks and respecting physical distancing.