Italy donates 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca anti-Coronavirus vaccines to Libya

By Sami Zaptia.

Italy donates 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Libya (Photo: Italian embassy)

London, 16 September 2021:

Italy donated 117,600 doses of the AstraZeneca anti-Coronavirus vaccines to Libya. The consignment arrived at Mitiga airport yesterday with the help of UNICEF through the COVAX/GAVI facility. Libya is a self-funding member of the COVAX/GAVI facility.

At his questioning session in parliament last week, Libya’s Prime Minister, Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba said that none of the vaccines that had arrived in Libya so far had been donated and that Libya has had to pay for them.

The Italian embassy yesterday said the vaccines were ‘‘donated’’ to Libya. It said ‘‘After the generous mission of Libyan doctors to Rome at Celio Hospital last year, Italy and Libya are still working together to face the pandemic.’’

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Libya’s vaccines and Coronavirus update

Italy’s AstraZeneca donation follows on from AstraZeneca deliveries from Greece and Malta on 17 August.

Malta had sent 40,000 doses of AstraZeneca anti-Coronavirus vaccines and an equal number of Rapid Antibody test kits. The process was conducted through close cooperation with the World Health Organization and Libya’s Health Ministry.

The Maltese consignment arrived on the same day as another consignment of 200,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived at Mitiga from Greece. Italy’s donation makes it the fifth consignment of AstraZeneca vaccines to arrive in Libya.

Overall, it is the fifteenth consignment of vaccines to arrive in Libya. It brings the total number of the four brands (Sputnik V, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer and Sinovac/pharm) received in Libya to 3,756,252 doses.

Vaccine arrivals in Libya

	Brand	Quantity	Date of arrival	Note
1	Sputnik V	101,252	040421	Via UAE
2	Oxford AstraZeneca	57,600	080421	Via Covax
3	Sputnik V	100,000	090421	?
4	Sinovac	150,000	140421	Via Turkey
5	Oxford AstraZeneca	117,600	190521	Via Covax
6	Sputnik V	100,00	150621	?
7	Pfizer	54,600	240621	Via Covax
8	Sputnik V	100,000	060721	?
9	Sputnik V	500,000	190721	?
10	Sinovac/pharm	1,200,000	020821	?
11	Sinovac/pharm	800,000	040821	?
12	Oxford AstraZeneca	117,600	120821	Via Covax
13	Oxford AstraZeneca	200,000	170821	Via Greece
14	Oxford AstraZeneca	40,000	170821	Via Malta
15	Oxford AstraZeneca	117,600	150921	Italy/Covax
	Total:	3,756,252

Libya has ordered 12 million doses

It will be recalled that the Libyan government had announced earlier that it had ordered a total of 12 million doses for its official population of 6.9 million people. The vaccine is available to non-national residents and illegal migrants too.

Over 800,000 vaccinated

According to the latest figures released by Libya’s National Disease Control Centre (NDCD) today, 1,266,669 people have now received a vaccination, of which 145,217 have also received their second dose.

This means that Libya is sitting on over 1.25 million doses not rolled out yet. Many Libyans have complained to Libya Herald that they are still awaiting their second Sputnik dose.

Vaccination drive launched

The government had launched a nationwide vaccination drive starting in the biggest population centres of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sebha and Misrata.

The latest Coronavirus cases and vaccinations

Meanwhile, the latest NCDC figures reported today read as follows:

Total number of people vaccinated – 1^st dose	1,266,669
Total number of people vaccinated – 2^nd dose	145,217
Total number of Coronavirus cases	328,856
Total number of recovered cases	243,672
Total number of active cases	80,704
Total number of deaths	4,480
Total number of tests conducted over last 24 hours	5,039
Rate of infection	20.8 percent