Namibia receives first batch vaccines from COVAX facility

WINDHOEK, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Namibia received the first batch of 24,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Friday morning, Minister of Health and Social Services Kalumbi Shangula said.

Shangula said that he was delighted to receive the vaccines acquired through the COVAX facility, a WHO-led initiative aimed at providing more equitable access to vaccines for low- and middle-income countries.

Namibia is one of the first countries in the African continent to pay for the delivery of the vaccines, though the batch was delayed twice.

The minister said the Astra Zeneca vaccines received would be administered countrywide and called on Namibians to embrace vaccination as one of ways to deal with the pandemic.

As of this week, Namibia inoculated 3,587 people, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its population.