Somalia started administering Covid-19 vaccinations with the inoculation of the health minister, who received the jab publicly to reassure the nation about its safety.
The Horn of Africa nation on Monday received its first shipment of 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the international COVAX initiative to ensure that low- and middle-income countries receive vaccines.
Health Minister Fawziya Abikar Nur urged the public to embrace the vaccines to stem infections in the country of 15 million people and one of the continent’s weakest health systems.
Only five people, including the minister and two employees of the World Health Organization, received a shot in the arm.
Somalia has recorded 8,946 confirmed cases of Covid-19, including at least 349 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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