South Sudan Doctors Union (SSDU) has hailed the recently launched vaccination exercise terming it the best tool to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘‘The SSDU would like to remind all the front-line workers, persons above 65 years and those with other underlying diseases to go for vaccination at Juba Teaching and Juba Military Referral Hospitals. We equally call on the MOH to scale up preparations to administer the second dose without delay and to secure more COVID-19 vaccines for citizens who wish to get vaccinated,’’ the medics said in a press release.

The doctors said the vaccine is pivotal in helping individuals avoid severe illness in case they contract COVID-19, hence, considerable as the remedy to the virus that currently has no cure.

The stated, ‘‘COVID-19 vaccination will help keep you from getting COVID-19 or from being seriously ill even if you get infected with the virus. Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.’’

On March 15, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released information pertaining to vaccination. The health agency said there were no satisfactory pieces of evidence to show that the vaccine stopped re-infection at the time, but it was effective in preventing serious illnesses.

‘‘COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting sick. Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic,’’ CDC stated in a stated shared on official website.

 ‘‘After you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you should keep taking precautions in public places like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces until we know more,’’ CDC stated.

South Sudan received 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for the first batch of the inoculation.