Syria gets 200,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine under COVAX scheme: U.N. officials

FILE PHOTO: A nurse prepares to administer the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine under the COVAX scheme against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Eka Kotebe General Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 13, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria's government has received its first delivery of COVID-19 vaccines through the global COVAX initiative, with almost 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca shot, U.N officials said on Thursday.

A joint statement by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI vaccine alliance said the delivery was "critical and timely" and would help health workers "to continue delivering life-saving services in an already exhausted health system as a result of the decade-long war."