Senegal ready to receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in March: Report

Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, the Health and Social Minister of Senegal, reportedly said that the West African Country has not chosen a vaccine yet but the country is taking part in the international process of vaccine purchasing by groups.

Senegal will have its first COVID-19 vaccine doses in March, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese-based based agency.

As per the report, Senegal will have the first doses of COVID-19 after authorization by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The confirmation of having first doses in March was reportedly released by Mamadou Ndiaye, the Director of Prevention of the Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social action.

Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, the Health and Social Minister of Senegal, reportedly said that the West African Country has not chosen a vaccine yet but the country is taking part in the international process of vaccine purchasing by groups.

However, a survey conducted by the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) showed that an average of 79 % of respondents in Africa would have the COVID-19 vaccine if is considered safe and effective.

The survey which was released earlier on Thursday interviewed over 15,000 adults in 2002 between August and December. The 18 years old interviewers belonged to different countries including Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Tunisia, and Senegal, as per CDC.

As per data released by Worldometers, Senegal has recorded 17,451 COVID-19 cases since March, while 355 are noted dead with 16,384 recorded recovered from the virus.