Ivory Coast President Ouattara to Self-isolate After Covid-19 Contact

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara says he will self-isolate after coming in contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ivory Coast currently has 50 499 COVID-19 cases, with 49 553 recoveries and 332 deaths.

Early last month, the West African country began sending mobile clinics to markets and other busy areas in its main city Abidjan in an effort to turbocharge the vaccination campaign against COVID-19.

According to a Reuters tracker, the country has now administered at least 1 019 898 doses of COVID vaccines so far.

Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 2% of the country’s population.

Like many African countries, Ivory Coast has seen vaccinations get off to a slow start due to limited supplies as well as wariness or indifference toward the vaccines.

But officials say things are picking up thanks to better communication, including promotions at soccer matches.

Ivory Coast has received about a million doses of the AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Sinopharm vaccines to date, and the government says it expects to take delivery of 1.2 million more doses by mid-July.