Hassan responds with his team to the pandemic by transporting patients to medical centers.
“As frontline paramedics, we transport the wounded and the injured to hospitals and medical centers. We protect ourselves by following precautionary measures, such as wearing masks and gloves,” he says.
Considering the absence of adequate health care services in Northwest Syria for a population of over 4 million, only around 54,000 doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered in Northwest Syria, as part of the COVAX initiative. Hassan is one of the few to have been vaccinated, among other frontline workers.
“I got vaccinated to protect myself and my family. My mother and father are old. I don’t want the virus to spread or to bring it to our home,” Hassan says. “I encourage medical staff, the community, and the beneficiaries to get vaccinated to protect themselves, and to prevent the virus from spreading among people and decrease death rates.”
*Name has been changed