TRIPOLI: More than 100,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine arrived at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport on Sunday, Libya’s ministry of health said, the first shipment to reach the country.
Around 1,000 new infections are announced daily by the National Centre for Disease Control, posing a challenge to a health sector ravaged by years of conflict.
“It is the first drop of rain. Thank God, we are able to supply the first batch of corona vaccine,” interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said in a tweet.
No date has been given for when vaccinations will begin.
“The rest of the shipment will arrive in succession,” he added, without giving details of how many more doses were due.
A box of the vaccine was shown being unloaded from a cargo plane in a social media post by the health ministry, saying it would be moved to the ministry’s warehouses before distribution.
In February, the disease control centre launched an electronic registration campaign for vaccinations for those aged over 18. No details on the numbers of those registering have been disclosed. Libya has a population of around 6.5 million.
Libya has recorded almost 200,000 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic and 2,684 deaths, according to the latest data from the diseases centre.
Dbeibeh’s new UN-backed unity government took office last month with a mandate to improve services and prepare for a national election in December.
Prime Minister Dbeibeh said that more vaccine shipments would follow and called on the public to register in order to receive a jab. So far, the Libyan health authorities have reported a total of 161,088 virus cases and 2,684 related deaths.
Last month, a transitional unity government took office in Libya, a major step towards re-establishing stability in the country that has been roiled by conflict for a decade.
The interim government is tasked with preparing for national elections, scheduled for December 24.
This government has replaced the UN-backed Government of National Accord, which has been in charge of Tripoli and western areas, alongside the competing eastern administration linked with warlord Khalifa Haftar.
Libya has been torn by division and violence for a decade
since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi and split between warring western and eastern factions in 2014. — Reuters
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