Tunisia receives new batch of AstraZeneca vaccine

Tunisia has received a third batch of 158,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the global Covax initiative.

JOHANNESBURG, May 18 (ANA) – Tunisia has received a third batch of 158,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the global Covax initiative, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Delegation of the European Union to Tunisia.

“Another batch of 253,890 doses of Pfizer vaccine is expected by the end of May and additional doses of AstraZeneca will be available at a later date. This will bring the total number of vaccines provided by the Covax initiative in the first half of 2021 to more than 602,000 doses,” the statement reads.

In addition, the initiative will provide the North African country with coronavirus vaccines with the goal of vaccinating 20% of the population.

According to the EU delegation, Covax is a global facility which represents the partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to distribute the Covid-19 vaccines.

“It includes 190 countries with a population of more than seven billion people and ensures fair and equal access to Covid-19 vaccines supplied through Unicef.”

The delegation also revealed that from the beginning of the initiative, the EU and its member states (Team Europe) have contributed €2.2 billion (US$2.6 billion) to supply WHO-approved vaccine doses in 92 low- and middle-income countries.

In its latest update, Tunisia has recorded 327,473 Covid-19 cases. The North African country has also reported 288,935 recoveries and 11,899 coronavirus-related deaths.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher