LIBREVILLE, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- About 81,000 people in Gabon have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, said Gabon's health minister Guy Patrick Obiang Thursday in his daily bulletin.
The vaccination campaign, launched on March 19 in the central African country with a population of about two million, is free for all citizens and aims to vaccinate 60 percent of the population.
Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba said on Monday in his address on the 61st anniversary of Gabon's independence, that the number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country is clearly "not enough".
Last Thursday, the government extended the health emergency for another 45 days. As of Wednesday, 25,626 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported nationwide, including 165 deaths. Enditem
