Turkey donates over 290,000 Covid-19 vaccines to Somalia

GOOBJOOG NEWS/MOGADISHU: The Turkish government through its Ambassador to Somalia Mehmet Yılmaz, handed over the first batch of 290,400 doses to the Somali Ministry of Health on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

The over 290,000 doses are part of 1 million COVID-19 (SINOVAC) vaccines that the Turkish government is planning to supply to Somalia.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had during the third Africa-Turkey summit, pledged to donate about 15 million doses of COVID vaccine to the whole of Africa, with the first batch handed to the Somali government on Tuesday.

The Deputy Minister of Health of the Federal Government of Somalia, Dr. Ahmed Hussein Maalim, thanked the Turkish government and its ambassador for their continued support to the Somali people and the Federal Government of Somalia in the fight against the killer virus.

On March 17, Mogadishu launched its first public oxygen plant  supplied by the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of its ongoing support for the emergency response to Covid-19 in the country.