Coronavirus: UAE Sends Vaccine Doses and Aid to Gambia

On Thursday, the United Arab Emirates sent an aid plane with 67 tonnes of food to the Gambia as the African country tackles Covid-19.

The UAE previously sent an aid plane containing five tonnes of medical supplies to the country last year to help curb the pandemic.

UAE authorities say the aid has helped about 5,000 healthcare workers in their efforts to contain the virus.

Sultan Al Harbi, the UAE’s non-resident ambassador to the Gambia, said the UAE was committed to giving humanitarian assistance to all African countries.

The Gambia began its national rollout with the AstraZeneca Vaccine under the COVAX facility in March. It catered for 36,000 doses to the frontline health workers, the security personnel and people with underlying conditions.

The interim distribution list of the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX vaccines) allocates 180,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to The Gambia to be delivered in the first quarter of 2021.