MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia will receive 1.2 million coronavirus vaccines within this month, nearly a year after the country reported the first case of the virus, World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
The head of WHO in Somalia Mamunur Rahman Malik told VOA Somali service that the Horn of Africa nation will receive 1.2 million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
The poverty-stricken African nation which is plighted by a three-decade long conflict is due to begin administering the first shots in mid February. The vaccines are destined for 600,000 Somali health care workers, many of whom have been on the frontline of the efforts to curb the spread of the contagion.
Dr Mamunur noted that the country will obtain another batch of the coronavirus vaccine which is expected to cover 20% of the Somali population.
Somali federal government is needed to buy vaccine doses for the rest of the population. UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank are said to be helping the government to secure funds for obtaining the vaccines.
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