DAKAR, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Dr. Mamadou Ndiaye, the director of Prevention of Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action, announced on Tuesday that the first doses of anti-COVID-19 vaccine will be available in Senegal from March 2021.
During an interview with radio Sud FM, Dr. Ndiaye said that members of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, including Senegal, would have these first doses after approval by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr. Ndiaye explained that Gavi members were guaranteed to have their first doses by the end of the first quarter of 2021 through a partnership with WHO, UNICEF, World Bank and the European Union.
According to him, since 1976 and the start of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), Senegal has never used a vaccine that had not been previously approved by the WHO.
Senegalese Minister of Health and Social Action, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, declared on Dec. 10 that the country had not chosen a vaccine at this stage, but that it was participating in the international mechanism for group purchasing of vaccines.
"The vaccine that we will choose in this context will be the vaccine that will be approved by the World Health Organization", he stressed.
Since March 2, Senegal has recorded 17,216 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 350 deaths and 16,243 recoveries. Enditem
