By Grace Kuria
Somalia has on Sunday received 200,000 doses of Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine. Somali minister for health, Dr. Fawziya Abikar, various government officials and Chinese ambassador to Somalia Qin Jian were present at the Mogadishu airport to receive the shipment, said a ministry statement.
The delivery of the vaccine follows a deal signed by Somali government and Sinopharm, the Chinese company that produces the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine last week.
Source: Chinese Embassy in Somalia
The Horn of Africa nation’s ambassador in Beijing, Awale Kullane, signed the agreement on behalf of his country in a ceremony witnessed by deputy head of mission, Said Mire. The acquisition of the Chinese-manufactured vaccines is expected to boost the country’s mass vaccination drive.
This comes barely a month after UN delivered 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the international COVAX vaccine initiative.
The country rolled out its mass inoculations on March 16. Somalia has so far recorded 12,271 coronavirus cases and 605 deaths.
