MOGADISHU — Somalia on Dec 5 received 500,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by China to help intensify the fight against the pandemic in the country amid the Omicron variant.

Chinese Ambassador to Somalia Fei Shengchao said the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines demonstrates China's commitment to honoring its pledge with actions and protecting the lives and health of the Somali people.

"It speaks to China's commitment to putting people and their lives first, and closing the immunization gap in Somalia," Fei said in Mogadishu.

He said that China and Somalia will work together to enhance their everlasting spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation.

"China will work with Somalia to fight the pandemic, deepen medical and health cooperation, protect the life, value and dignity of every individual, and make a fresh headway in building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era," said Fei.

Fawziya Abikar Nur, Minister of Health and Human Services of Somalia, lauded the Chinese government for the vaccine donation, saying the arrival of Sinopharm doses was timely because of the new Omicron variant which she said is spreading very fast.

"We are thanking the people and Government of China for donating us the second support of 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to fight against the pandemic. We received 200,000 doses of vaccines from China in April," Nur said.

Somalia, which rolled out its mass vaccinations on March 16, received 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by China on April 11 to boost the war against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country had confirmed 23,051 cases, 12,325 recoveries and 1,331 deaths as of Dec 2.