By TOM CHIAHEMEN –
Africa’s leading airline, Ethiopian Airlines Group, has started vaccinating its employees against COVID-19.
The vaccination, which began on May 14, is being carried out in its temporarily opened vaccination center.
According to a statement released by the airline on Monday, Ethiopian Medical Center is equipped with the latest facilities to give the service in its temporary vaccination center at Ethiopian Aviation Academy.
Front line employees with direct contact with customers and partners will get priority, the statement said.
It added that all employees would get the dose of the vaccine four weeks after they take their first dose.
The vaccination of Ethiopian airline’s employees comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause havoc across Africa.
As of May 16, COVID-19 had claimed 126,652 lives in Africa reached with South Africa facing the highest number of casualties. With 55,210 deaths, the country accounted for roughly 43.6% of the total.
Egypt was the second most affected in the continent, as the virus made 14,327 victims in the nation, nearly 11.3% of the overall deaths in Africa.
Tunisia accounted for around 9.4% of the casualties in the continent, with 11,849 victims, according to a report by Saifaddin Galal.
Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, said, “I am happy to announce that we have imported COVID-19 vaccination for our group employees. Safety is always our top priority and vaccination of our employees will enhance the safety of our colleagues and customers onboard and on the ground. Vaccination of employees will increase passengers’ confidence to fly with us. We will continue to implement all mandated safety measures and the vaccination will supplement those preventive
measures. This is a big milestone in our fight against the pandemic and we hope to welcome our passengers with fully vaccinated employees in flight and on ground.”
Ethiopian has been implementing safety measures to protect its customers, staff and partners. It set up its own COVID-19 testing and isolation center for staff to prevent the spread of the virus and to ensure employees’ wellbeing and safety. In addition, Ethiopian has launched a high-end COVID-19 testing lab at its main hub, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, to revitalize the passengers’ business by creating seamless travel experience that includes COVID-19 testing to passengers that are departing or transiting via Addis Ababa.
Ethiopian continues to transport COVID-19 vaccines all over the world and it has transported more than 27 million vaccines to over 24 countries so far.
(With a report by FRONTVIEW AFRICA)
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.