Yemen receives first batch of COVID vaccines: UN

Yemen’s COVID committee has urged the gov’t to declare a public health ‘state of emergency’ amid a surge in infections.

War-torn Yemen has received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, the United Nations children’s agency said, a week after the country’s coronavirus committee warned of a public health “emergency”. The AstraZeneca vaccines “will enable health workers and other priority populations vulnerable to COVID-19 to be protected against the virus,” UNICEF said in a statement on Wednesday. UN and government officials received the doses in the southern city of Aden, which has been the temporary capital for the past six years due to the conflict between the government and Houthi rebels, who control Sanaa.