(Ecofin Agency) - Côte d’Ivoire started on March 1st its vaccination campaign against the coronavirus pandemic. The information was reported in an official tweet by the government.

The program follows the reception of the first batch of the vaccine as part of the WHO-led Covax initiative. On February 26, the United Nations announced the delivery of 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Côte d’Ivoire, the second free delivery in Africa.

This first vaccination program, split into three phases, targets about 20% of the population. The first person to have received the vaccine was the Minister of State, Secretary-General of the Ivorian Presidency, Patrick Achi, who considers receiving the vaccine as a "patriotic duty". Phase I aims to vaccinate health workers, law enforcement officers, and teachers. The second phase will target people at risk, meaning people over 50 years of age, those with chronic illnesses, or those planning to travel. The third phase will take into account people in prison and those between 16 and 49 years of age.

About 90 vaccination sites are set up all over the national territory to ease the program. However, the rollout of the vaccine will mainly take place in Abidjan, which is the epidemic’s epicenter in the country with 95% of cases, according to Health Minister Eugène Aka Aouélé.

The success of this campaign will help lower the disease’s health impact, and subsequently its economic and social impacts as well. Patrick Achi said the vaccination will enable citizens to resume their activities under loosened measures and reach a further step toward the reopening of borders.