DAKAR, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese government on Saturday began to distribute the first doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine to its regions across the country for the imminent vaccination campaign, Senegalese Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr announced at the launching ceremony.
"The vaccines will leave Dakar today and within four days, will be available throughout the country to effectively support our plan to operationalize the COVID-19 vaccination," said Senegalese Minister of Health and Social Action.
According to him, his ministry will set up a national committee of control and monitoring of all vaccination operations Monday, which will be followed by the launch of the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign throughout Senegal Tuesday.
"It is absolutely necessary to masterfully carry on the vaccination operations until the resolvement (of the situation). These vaccines must be available throughout the territory until the outcome of the national strategy to fight against the disease," he stressed. "It is in an international context of vaccine shortage that the head of State has done everything to obtain this vaccine."
Sarr further assured that his country has "very effective equipments" for storing and distributing pharmaceutical products.
The Senegalese authorities received 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the Chinese company Sinopharm Wednesday night.
According to the country's Minister of Health and Social Action, the vaccination campaign will kick off on Feb. 23.
Senegal reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 2, 2020. So far, the country has recorded 32,630 positive cases, including 26,907 recoveries and 795 deaths. Enditem
