The press office of Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health on Monday issued a statement in response to some media outlets that have been throwing the responsibility of securing the Covid-19 vaccine through the private sector on the Ministry of Public Health.

The statement made clear that the MoPH had already granted more than thirty private companies — which comply with good storage and distribution conditions — official approval to negotiate and import the vaccine.

The statement also reminded of the fact that a number of vaccine manufacturers, such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca, only sold their product to governments.

It then affirms that the Health Ministry’s “free of charge” initiative to manage the vaccination process of the private sector and associations — once they’re able to import the vaccine — only aimed at ensuring “quality vaccination” in a bid to achieve the much aspired herd immunity as quickly as possible, let alone document vaccinated members on COVAX platform.

As for the MoPH’s strict commitment to free vaccination, “it is something that is being applied in all the countries of the world, where private initiatives endeavor, in solidarity with official authorities, to confront the pandemic away from any race in the opposite direction!” the statement added.

“The vaccine is a national responsibility that should be kept away from point scoring,” the statement concluded, expressing the Ministry’s utter refusal “to satisfy those who want to invest to achieve illegal profits.”