Last week, Senegal received its first shipment of the Sinopharm immunization from China after releasing funds worth 3.74 million dollars. The vaccine’s arrival triggered mixed reactions among Senegalese who were eager to begin the immunization process.
The Immunization
The inoculation campaigns began on Tuesday, with over 200000 doses distributed in different parts of the country. The first batch of vaccines was distributed to the country’s capital in Dakar, where health officials were the first to be vaccinated.
Senegal is among the first countries in the continent to begin its vaccination campaigns. So far, the west African state has confirmed 33242 covid cases and 832 deaths. And seemingly, the virus continues to surge daily.
“We are going to continue so that all the Senegalese who must be vaccinated can be,” said Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr in a brief speech after receiving the vaccine.
Generally, Senegal aims to inoculate 90%, that is approximately 3.5 million of its population. With the health workers, vulnerable individuals, and the elderly at the top of the list. The health workers come first considering they play a significant role in combatting the virus. They are the ones conducting covid tests and treating patients who have contracted the virus.
More Vaccine to Come
Being a lower-middle-income state globally, Senegal is eligible to receive about 1.3 million covid vaccines from the COVAX Programme. They anticipate receiving the vaccines come early March. Moreover, the country also qualifies to get 3.4 million doses for less than 23 million dollars from an African Union Plan.
Sarr also stated that Senegal had begun its negotiations with Russia over the Sputnik V vaccine. He added that they were in the process of finalizing their negotiations with Russia, for it won’t be long before Senegal floods with a variety of covid-19 vaccines.
“We are in the process of finalizing our commercial relationship with Russia to bring in the Sputnik V vaccine very soon,” he said, adding that Senegal also aimed to get more vaccines from an African Union vaccines program.
Senegal has also promised to stand in solidarity with African states, mostly its closest neighbors, Gambia and Guinea Bissau. It promised to give out ten thousand doses of each of its Sinopharm vaccines to the Gambia and Guinea Bissau. States worldwide should embrace such acts, especially since the virus is endemic. Equitable distribution of vaccines is essential to defeating the pandemic.
Which Other Measures Has Senegal Reinstated?
When covid first emerged, Senegal happened to be among the top countries in sub-Saharan Africa to record surging cases. Therefore, it was one of the leading states in enacting stringent measures. Lockdown, sanitizing, social distancing, and masking were the very first measures the state-imposed. At first, it was challenging adapting to masking. However, as time went by, it became a culture. Senegal was fortunate enough to have law-abiding citizens who positively reacted to the measures.
To date, the culture of masking, sanitizing, and social distancing is still on. The safety measures have prevented Senegal from topping the list of new coronavirus cases, especially since activities started to resume usually.
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