Medical workers prepare to administer COVID-19 vaccines at the Congress Palace of Cotonou, Benin, March 29, 2021. Benin launched on Monday the first phase of vaccination against COVID-19 that targets groups including health workers and people aged 60 and above. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)
COTONOU, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Benin plans to start on Monday mass vaccination against COVID-19 in four administrative divisions accounting for over 95 percent of the total of cases registered so far, according to an official release reaching Xinhua on Saturday.
A total of 78 vaccination sites were established in the four departments, namely Littoral, Atlantique, Oueme and Borgou, for the immunization campaign that targets groups including health workers and those aged 60 and above.
Prior to this, the government of Benin has made available Chinese Sinovac vaccines through the cooperation with China, and AstraZeneca vaccines thanks to the COVAX facility headed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
"All these anti-COVID-19 vaccines accepted by Benin have been submitted to relevant technical committees for a careful review to ensure the reliability of the data of effectiveness, quality and security made available on them," the government said in the release.
As of March 22, Benin had recorded a total of 7,100 COVID-19 cases with 90 deaths. Enditem
