In a statement released on Thursday from the WHO's COVAX programme, this will be the second batch of Covid-19 vaccines Senegal has received through the scheme, after an initial 324,000 AstraZeneca doses arrived in March.
The arrival of the latest batch is timely as Senegal's supply of vaccines is running low as thousands of people are due for their second jabs.
Most of the country's 16 million citizens have yet to receive a first dose.
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Around 456,000 people in Senegal had been vaccinated as of Tuesday, programme sponsors said, thanks to a combination of doses acquired through COVAX and purchased from China.
Senegal has recorded around 41,500 coronavirus cases and 1,142 deaths since the pandemic began, according to figures from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Wednesday, #COVAX secured US$2.4 billion towards the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation the world has ever seen 🌍✈️💉
— UNICEF Supply Division (@UNICEFSupply) June 4, 2021
This is a great example of global solidarity to help ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all.#DonateDosesNow pic.twitter.com/ZaFC9QjBHg
Some 1.5 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally, but only around 1 percent of them in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.
France's donation to Senegal follows pledges from several large economies to increase contributions to COVAX, which is backed by the WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and aims to secure 2 billion vaccine doses for lower-income countries by the end of this year.
