COVID-19 vaccines shipped by COVAX arrive in Sierra Leone
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Freetown, Sierra Leone, Monday 8 March 2021 - Today, Sierra Leone received the first batch of 96,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine shipped via the COVAX Facility, a partnership between the Government Sierra Leone, CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO. This is a historic step towards our goal to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally, in what will be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history. The delivery is part of a first wave of arrivals of an initial 528,000 doses that will continue till end of May 2021.
On 6 March 2021, COVAX shipped 96,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, licensed and manufactured by Serum Institute (PVT) Limited from Maharashtra, India, to Freetown, Sierra Leone, arriving in the evening of 8 March 2021. The arrival of this first batch of 528,000 doses will kick start the vaccination of 20% of Sierra Leone’s 8,000,000 population as part of the COVAX Facility in its unprecedented effort to deliver at least 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. This initial consignment of the vaccine and the immediate subsequent shipments will prioritize critical target groups such as frontline health professionals, vulnerable including the aged people and people with underlying health conditions.