On Monday, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire became the first countries to vaccinate their citizens against Covid-10 thanks to Covax. In Côte d’Ivoire, vaccination began on Monday March 1 in Abidjan.
The first AstraZeneca dose was delivered to Patrick Achi, Secretary General of the French Presidency. “A patriotic duty”, he says. Then it was the turn of the police, nurses and teachers. These are the most exposed trades, according to the executive. Next in line are the over-50s, the chronically ill and international travelers. For the moment, the campaign concerns only Abidjan, the economic capital and epicenter of the epidemic, with 95% of cases.
Côte d’Ivoire would like to vaccinate 70% of its population by the end of the year, i.e. over 19 million people. Last Thursday, the country already received 500 000 Covax vaccines. A further four and a half million vaccines are expected to arrive. And for the rest, the government has promised to buy the doses itself.
In the race to find a vaccine against coronavirus disease, the current challenge is to minimize the gap between rich and poor countries.
