Ivory Coast received its first batch of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. Some 500,000 doses of the vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India arrived in the commercial capital Abidjan, reported Africa News.
“504,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine just arrived in Abidjan. Another step towards #VaccinEquity & a symbol of global cooperation & solidarity,” WHO Africa tweeted.
Ivory Coast is the second African nation to get vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative, a global scheme to help less-developed countries, after Ghana.
Ghana received the first COVAX shipment on Wednesday, marking the start of the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history.
The COVAX initiative has a goal of delivering 2 billion doses by the end of 2021. According to WHO Africa, some 24 other countries are expected to start receiving vaccines next week.
Ivory Coast is set to begin its vaccination campaign on Monday, the government said. Health Minister Eugène Aka Aouélé said the first phase of the vaccination will target health personnel, defense and security forces, and teaching staff in Abidjan, where 95% of the country’s cases have been reported. He said the first batch will target more than 250,000 people.
The country “is pleased and proud to be the second African country after Ghana to receive vaccines provided through the COVAX facility,” the minister said. “This is an important step in our shared fight against the common enemy that is COVID-19.”
According to Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures, Ivory Coast has seen a second wave of the pandemic and has recorded 32,295 cases and 188 deaths since its first case was recorded on March 11, 2020.
Africa’s reported COVID-19 death toll surpassed 102,800 on Friday, which is much less as compared to other continents but increasing rapidly as the second wave of infections overwhelms under-equipped hospitals.
