PRAIA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Helga Badiane, a 63-year-old nurse, became the first of six health workers to receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Praia, capital of Cape Verde, on Thursday.
Her inoculation also symbolizes the official kick-off of the vaccination campaign in the archipelago which targets health professionals in this first phase.
"We have been waiting for this day for a year. It is a remarkable day for health professionals and for all Cape Verdeans," Badiane said after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
For his part, Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva affirmed that all the islands in the country have received doses of vaccines which will be administered to health professionals on Friday, as indicated in the national vaccination plan.
Silva hoped that his country would increase the vaccination coverage so that the Cape Verdean population can be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
He guaranteed that the country will receive more vaccines to be able to follow the vaccination plan, as well as information that can clarify the reliability of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which Cape Verde has already received 24,000 doses out of a total of 108,000 from the COVAX Facility.
According to the country's health ministry on Wednesday, Cape Verde will first use Pfizer vaccine for its national vaccination plan while waiting for confirmation of the European Medicines Agency's researche on AstraZeneca's reliability.
As of Wednesday, Cape Verde had 16,250 positive coronavirus cases, including 15,599 recoveries and 158 deaths. Enditem
