V is for Vaccinated – the beginning of the end

It’s really happening! COVID-19 vaccines are being administered in low and middle-income countries worldwide, with thanks to COVAX, and UNICEF.

In recent weeks health workers in Ethiopia, Fiji, Nigeria, Sudan and Philippines were vaccinated against COVID-19 amid quiet celebrations and great relief. 

They received their vaccines through COVAX, a global initiative led by UNICEF, WHO, Gavi and CEPI to ensure the fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. 

As health workers continue to work day and night to care for children and their families, they must have access to COVID-19 vaccines no matter where they live. 

No-one is safe until everyone is safe. 

Here are some of the jubilant images from around the world it has been our great pleasure to receive this week. 

On 24 February 2021, a plane carrying the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the COVAX Facility lands at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana’s capital. © UNICEF/Kokoroko

The shipment to Ghana of 600,000 doses of the vaccine was the beginning of what will be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

The COVID-19 vaccines after offload from the aircraft at Khartoum International Airport, Sudan. Sudan was the first country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to receive vaccines from COVAX. © UNICEF/Yeslam

The first deliveries of vaccine to Cambodia roll away from the airport in trucks on 2 March, when that country became one of the first countries in the Western Pacific region to receive vaccines through the COVAX Facility.  © UNICEF/Raab
UNICEF, Gavi and WHO are working with governments around the clock to ensure that countries are ready to receive the vaccines, with appropriate cold chain equipment in place and health workers trained to dispense them. On 2 March 2021, health professionals line up to administer Angola’s first COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they arrive from Luanda’s Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport to the Central Vaccines Storage facility. © UNICEF//COVAX/Carlos César
A health care worker in Sudan prepares the COVID-19 vaccine before she vaccinates people. © UNICEF/Yeslam
A few days after the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines in Sudan, vaccination against the deadly disease is underway. The vaccination followed the official launch of the vaccination campaign by the Federal Minister of Health at the UNICEF-supported Jebra Isolation Centre. In Sudan, the first phase of the vaccination campaign will target health care workers and persons 45 years and above with chronic illnesses. © UNICEF/Yeslam
Dr Tenaye Desalegn is the first Ethiopian to receive the vaccine: “I am happy to be vaccinated but it is just another layer of protection and we should continue to keep our distance and wash our hands.” © UNICEF/ Tesfaye
Staff at Zomba Central Hospital in Malawi, soon after getting the COVID-19 vaccine on day one of the vaccination exercise in the country. © UNICEF/Chikondi
An elderly woman receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine from vaccine camp targeted for age 60+ population in Sri Lanka. © UNICEF
Teachers at the Al-Fateh girls’ high school in Kabul, Afghanistan receives the shot of COVAX facilitated COVID-19 vaccine that were enrolled in Afghanistan. © UNICEF/Fazel

The roll-out of vaccines to low and middle income countries is an historic attempt to immunise the world in record time.

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