Residents of five townships in northern Arakan State are being prioritised in the latest regional Covid-19 inoculation campaign, with the Arakan Army (AA) administering vaccine doses allocated by Myanmar’s military regime, said AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha.

People from Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships have been receiving the vaccine since January 19, and more than 5,000 people have gotten the jab so far, including some AA members, he said.

“The vaccine is mainly provided to the people. We set a location to administer the vaccine where people can travel easily. So, our members who are close to the location come and get the vaccine. But their number is small,” U Khaing Thukha said.

The Arakan Army is one of more than a dozen ethnic armed groups that were expected to join hands with Myanmar’s military government to vaccinate their respective populations, the regime said in September.

“It is a global movement to prevent Covid-19, so we cooperate completely with the government,” U Khaing Thukha said.

Two years of fighting between the military and Arakan Army ended with an informal ceasefire agreement toward the end of 2020, just months before the military seized power in a February 1 coup.

Residents of Zeditaung village in Buthidaung Township have also been beneficiaries of the latest inoculation effort.

“We have been providing the Covid-19 vaccine to not only Arakan Army fighters but also locals in Zeditaung village,” said the Buthidaung Township administrator, U Kyan Zan.

Dr. Saw Min Thein, medical superintendent of Buthidaung Hospital, confirmed that both AA soldiers and local civilians had been vaccinated against Covid-19 in Zeditaung village, with the doctor adding that the total number of vaccine recipients was not yet known.

Nationwide, Myanmar logged just 220 new coronavirus cases on January 25, according to the military-controlled Ministry of Health, bringing the country’s total case count to 534,383 since the pandemic began.