Connect with us

General News

Mauritania: Kenya, Mauritania Get Nearly Two Million Covid Vaccine Doses From Us

Published

4 years ago

on

[ad_1]

Kenya and Mauritania have received nearly two million new doses of Covid-19 vaccines from the United States in the latest push against the Omicron variant sweeping the world.

“Thanks to the US commitment to playing a leading role in ending the pandemic everywhere, the United States is shipping this weekend nearly two million vaccine doses to the African Union through Covax,” a White House official told the French news agency AFP, referring to the global distribution initiative co-led by the “vaccine alliance” Gavi.

Kenya, which has a population of nearly 54 million, got 1,368,900 Pfizer doses, while Mauritania, with 4.65 million people, was sent 100,620 Pfizer doses and 504,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The shipments left last week and were scheduled to arrive yesterday (Monday), the official said.

Mauritania, a former French colony in West Africa, is something of a star in the continent’s vaccination efforts.

The Gavi #COVAX AMC must be financially equipped to help countries respond to the #Omicron crisis and beyond and mitigate the risks that countries cannot manage alone. The clock is ticking on the task we have ahead of us & the opportunity we can seize: https://t.co/Olf3VnM8cZ

It became the 12th African country to reach the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of vaccinating at least 10 percent of its population before the end of September.

Currently, about 2.4 million vaccine shots have been administered there and, according to Johns Hopkins University, 21 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.