Cairo, Aug 27 (AP) Sudan received on Friday a shipment of 218,400 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a donation from France, according to UNICEF.

The vaccines were delivered to the east African nation with UNICEF's support and through COVAX, a U.N-backed initiative that aims at guaranteeing low and middle-income countries access to vaccines.

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So far, Sudan has recorded more than 37,500 cases and 2,831 deaths. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher given the scarcity of tests.

Since March, the Sudanese government has vaccinated nearly 830,000 people out of the country's population of 45 million.

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“The vaccinations come at a critical time as the infection numbers are climbing while the country is preparing to re-open schools after three years of numerous interruptions,” UNICEF said in a statement. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)