2 million Sinopharm doses reach Libya with more expected

Libya has called on people to come forward to be vaccinated after it received 2 million doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, with more on the way, AFP reported.

“We call on all our fellow citizens to be vaccinated,” Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah told reporters at Mitiga airport near Tripoli after the shipment arrived.

Adding to its security and political problems, the North African country of around 7 million people has been hard hit by the pandemic.

Dbeibah, who heads a transitional government ahead of elections set for December, added that another 1.5 million doses of vaccine were expected “in the coming weeks.”

Since the pandemic began, Libya has recorded 256,328 cases and 3,579 deaths from COVID-19.