In what could be regarded as a swift respond towards curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Seychelles says it has begun vaccinating its population against the coronavirus; making it the first nation in Africa to launch the campaign.
Seychelles Health Minister, Peggy Vidot made this announcement after the country got its first doses of the vaccines made by Chinese drug maker SinoPharm which was donated by the government of United Arab Emirates.
The entire population of the archipelago island nation is expected to be vaccinated on a voluntary basis with president Wavel Ramkalawan, among the first persons to have been vaccinated.
While given a break-down of how the vaccination campaign was expected to be carried out, the Seychelles Health Minister noted that after the country’s leaders, the vaccination campaign will be extended to all medical personnel, then to people working in essential sectors, and then to people over 65 years old before finally reaching the rest of the population.
Data from the World Health Organization, shows that Seychelles has so far recorded over 500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1 death; but this figure is constantly rising, with an average of more than 20 new infections per day.
