Ethiopia receives 2.2M COVAX COVID-19 Vaccines

By Grace Kuria

Ethiopia has received 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from COVAX. The vaccines landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Sunday morning from Serum Institute in Pune, India.

Ethiopia receives 2.2M COVAX COVID-19 vaccines.
Source: Twitter, WHO Ethiopia.

World Health Organization (WHO) Ethiopia said this is, “a step towards increasing equal access to vaccines!”While UNICEF said, “this delivery is part of the first wave of arrivals of the COVID-19 vaccines in the country.”Ethiopia Minister of Health Dr. Lia Tadesse and WHO country Representative to Ethiopia Dr. Boureima, were among those who received the first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccines.

On Friday, the country’s ministry of health said it was making detailed plans and preparation for the introduction of this COVID-19 vaccine for prioritized population groups in a phase-based approach.

The vaccination program will be launched in the coming weeks.

Ethiopia expects to eventually secure a total of nine million doses, which the East African country hopes will be used to vaccinate up to 20 percent of its population.

COVAX, an international vaccine campaign co-led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and its partners, aims to speed up the development, production and fair distribution of new COVID-19 vaccines.

Ethiopia has  registered 165,029 coronavirus cases and 2,420 deaths.

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