Museveni to Launch First Clinical Trial for COVID-19 Treatment

President Yoweri Museveni will tomorrow, Wednesday launch the first clinical trial for the COVID-19 treatment.

Don Wanyama, the Presidential press secretary confirmed in a tweet that President Museveni will officiate at Uganda’s first clinical trial for the treatment of COVID-19 at Mulago Hospital.

“Tomorrow, Wednesday, starting 10am, @KagutaMuseveni will officiate as Uganda launches its first clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine[treatment]. Events will be relayed on @ubctvuganda,” Wanyama tweeted.

Ever since March 2020 when Uganda registered her first case of coronavirus, government has been working hard to combat the spread of the deadly virus and at the same time work out clinical trials for a possible vaccine which had eluded the entire globe until recently when UK had a break through. In September last year, the Ministry of Health commenced clinical trials to use COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP) in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Similarly, the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) has also been in partnership with Imperial College London to start the first Covid-19 vaccine trial in Uganda. Recently, Dr Monica Musenero, the senior presidential adviser on epidemics, who is coordinating the vaccine development process, told the media there is progress in search of COVID-19 vaccine.

In December, the Ministry of Health ordered for 9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine amid surging new infections in the country. The vaccines are expected to be in the country mid this year and the first batch is expected to cover only 20% of the country’s total population. If tomorrow’s first clinical trial becomes successful then government would have been saved from a huge burden of procuring these vaccines from European countries. As of January 26, Uganda’s COVID-19 cases stood at 39,261 and 318 deaths.