Niger receives COVID-19 vaccines donated by China

NIAMEY, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A batch of China-donated COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Niamey, capital of Niger, on Sunday.

President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou, Prime Minister of Niger Brigi Rafini, Niger's acting Health Minister Ahmed Boto and Chinese Ambassador to Niger Zhang Lijun attended the handover ceremony at the airport.

"I would like to ask the Chinese ambassador to convey our thanks to the Chinese government and to Chinese people," Issoufou said.

The president also congratulated the excellent and diverse cooperation between Niger and China, saying that "Today we have just received a donation from the Chinese government of anti-COVID-19 vaccines. I take this opportunity to congratulate the dynamism of the cooperation that exists between Niger and the People's Republic of China."

According to Issoufou, with this donation, Niger will start the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 next Saturday, prioritizing vaccination of health personnel, then people who have comorbidity and the elderly, and the defense and security forces.

Niger has so far reported a total of 4918 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 185 deaths, and 4538 cured cases.