Guinea's President Conde receives Russian COVID vaccine

Guinean President Alpha Conde is one of Africa's first leaders to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The 82-year-old was injected with a dose of the Russian sputnik jab on Friday

He took the opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that Guineans receive broad vaccination coverage in order to curb the spread of the virus.

The Russian vaccination campaign was launched on 30 December on an experimental basis.

Defence Minister Mohamed Diané, a scientist by training, was the first to receive the vaccine-

Guinea also learned this week that the covax initiative, which ensures COVID-19 vaccines to all countries - was going to deliver the promised doses earlier than expected.

After first talking about the end of the second quarter, WHO and UNICEF now expect delivery within the next two to three weeks.

Guinea has recorded 14,065 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 81 deaths.