South Sudan rolls out mass Covid-19 vaccination drive

South Sudan on Tuesday rolled out its Covid-19 mass vaccination drive, joining a global effort to tackle the pandemic through inoculations.

Healthcare workers in Juba were among the first to receive their jabs of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with elderly persons also targeted.

South Sudan received the 132,000 doses of the Astra Zeneca shots on March 25 through the support of the World Health Organisation’s COVAX Facility established to ensure all countries can equitably access Covid-19 vaccines.

South Sudan’s top government officials are also expected to take their jabs soon.

Through the COVAX Facility, 732,000 doses of vaccines are expected to be deployed to South Sudan in the first half of 2021.

By Tuesday, the country had reported 10,286 coronavirus infections with 113 deaths.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke