Mauritius receives 100,000 doses of Chinese vaccine

ANKARA (AA) - Mauritius on Thursday received the first batch of 100,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to speed up inoculation and resume tourism activities in mid-2021, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority announced.

The island nation in the Indian Ocean also confirmed an additional order of 500,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine for its planned vaccination campaign targeting 700,000 people in the country of 1.2 million.

The authority said that the ongoing vaccination campaign gives priority to frontline workers, including those in the tourism sector.

“The vaccination campaign is on track ... more than 20% of the targeted population has been vaccinated,” it said. “Herd immunity has been set as a prerequisite for the restart of tourism as the safety of residents and visitors is considered a topmost national priority."

Mauritius has earlier used the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

It has so far recorded 1,201 COVID-19 cases, with 15 deaths and 841 recoveries.