Armed forces, dance troupes receive jabs, urge citizens to vaccinate

Servicemembers of the Georgian Defence Forces and dancers of the celebrated Sukhishvili and Erisioni national troupes have used their Covid-19 jabs to urge citizens to vaccinate, as Georgia begins to receive delayed batches of Covid-19 vaccines.

Receiving their doses at facilities across the country as health officials expect to receive hundreds of thousands of vaccines through the rest of the year, the troops and company performers have appealed to their compatriots today to join them in the measure.

Servicemembers have been receiving jabs at the Gori Military Hospital and the Kutaisi Medical Centre, the Ministry of Defence said, with those from the 1st Infantry Brigade arriving at the facilities on Wednesday to continue phase two of the MoD's plan on vaccinating its civilian and military personnel.

Military commanders told reporters the first stage had mostly comprised medical personnel in GDF units, with most of the servicemembers in units designated to take part in international missions also secure from the virus by now.

Family members of troops can also join the vaccination process, the MoD said, adding 17 percent of the ministry staff itself had received their doses already.

Servicemembers of the 1st Infantry Brigade seen forming up a queue to receive their jabs on Wednesday. Photo via Ministry of Defence press office.

Dancers and staff of Sukhishvili and Erisioni, two of the most popular and internationally travelled troupes of Georgian national dance, have also been eager to take part in initiatives of showing example to the rest of the country.

Nino Sukhishvili, managing director of the Sukhishvili company, told local reporters 80 percent of the company had vaccinated over the last two months, with the rest set to receive their jabs with the new batches of vaccines in the coming weeks.

Describing the vaccination drive as a measure to ensure safety for the performing artists, particularly due to their frequent tour schedule, the company manager also urged her compatriots to follow their "citizen duty" by vaccinating themselves.

Eka Tchkuaseli, principal choreographer of the Erisioni ensemble, joined the appeal to the wider society while also encouraging culture professionals to take the measure and receive their jabs.

Health officials have warned of an onset of a fourth wave of Covid in Georgia, with increased numbers of confirmed cases in the country since late June and "very difficult" next few weeks predicted by the professionals.

Delays in receiving vaccine doses have been cited among reasons that have contributed to the rising infection trends. New batches of Pfizer vaccines arrived in Georgia over the last few days and are expected to help ramp up the vaccination process that has also involved AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Sinopharm-produced doses so far.