Mogadishu (AFP)

Somalia received a first shipment of 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, intended for those working on the front lines to fight the disease as well as those most at risk, the government said.

These vaccines, made in India by the Serum Institute of India, are provided through the Covax initiative which aims to attempt to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines.

This mechanism is managed by the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness (Cepi).

"The arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines comes at a critical time for Somalia which is experiencing a new wave of the epidemic," Health Minister Fawziya Abikar Nur said in a statement.

"It can only be contained if all countries stand together, including Somalia."

A poor country in Africa, at war since 1991 and facing jihadist attacks from the Shebab, Somalia (15.4 million inhabitants) saw coronavirus cases explode last month (+ 77%), to 9,190, with a number of deaths more than doubled reaching 367 in total.

The vaccine from the Swedish-British group AstraZeneca, developed by researchers at the University of Oxford, is inexpensive, easy to transport and store.

According to Nur, Somalia has "strong systems in place" to carry out the vaccination campaign.

“The vaccines have helped other countries reduce the speed of the spread of Covid-19 and we are confident that we will do the same for Somalis,” she added.

Elsewhere in the Horn of Africa and East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have also launched vaccination campaigns against Covid-19.

© 2021 AFP