Ivory Coast and Ghana have started rolling out their secured Covid-19 vaccine under the UN-backed Covax programme.
The Covax program is the global vaccine-sharing initiative helping poorer countries control the pandemic.
On Monday healthcare workers in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan started receiving the Covid vaccination.
They would be followed by teachers and members of the security forces, according to the government.
The country last month secured over half a million doses of the AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine.
Ivorian Health Minister Eugene Aka Aouélé told reporters that “This is an important step in our shared fight against the common enemy that is Covid-19.”
Ghana also received its share of the Covax vaccine last week and the country’s president and vice together with their spouses will receive the jabs on Monday publicly.
The country was the first African country to receive the Covid-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility.
The government there said mass vaccination will be conducted in phases among segmented populations from Tuesday.
The first segment of population to be vaccinated with this first batch of doses include health workers, adults 60 years and over, people with underlying conditions, frontline executive among others.
Many African countries are beginning to secure some doses of the Covid-19 vaccine hoping to be able to vaccinate its citizens as quickly as possible.
The World Health Organization is still urging Africans to observe safety protocols to avoid contracting the virus as cases and deaths continue to rise.
Remember to keep yourself safe from #COVID19 in public spaces. Here’s how?? pic.twitter.com/2OYk18HaTP
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) February 28, 2021
Source: Africafeeds.com