A man receives the COVID-19 vaccine in Bamako, Mali, on March 31, 2021. Malian Minister of Health and Social Development Fanta Siby received Wednesday her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, which symbolized the official kickoff of Mali's COVID-19 vaccination campaign. During this first phase of the vaccination campaign, according to the minister, a total of 21,406 health workers will be vaccinated in Bamako, epicenter of the pandemic in this West African country. (Photo by Habib Kouyate/Xinhua)
BAMAKO, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Malian minister of Health and Social Development Fanta Siby received Wednesday her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, which symbolized the official kickoff of Mali's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
During this first phase of the vaccination campaign, according to the minister, a total of 21,406 health workers will be vaccinated in the capital city Bamako, epicenter of the pandemic in this West African country.
In addition to the health workers, 52,614 senior citizens over 60 years old and 78,921 people living with underlying health conditions are also eligible to be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine in Bamako.
"There is no sacrifice that's more noble than the one made to save lives, like the health workers did," Siby said to justify the choice of health workers as the first ones to be vaccinated.
At the beginning of March, Mali received its first batch of 396,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine under the framework of COVAX facility, an international initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines.
As of March 30, Mali had reported 9,998 positive cases of COVID-19, including 384 deaths and 6,800 recoveries. Enditem
