Tunisian Prime Minister Starts Probe Over Arrival Of Doubtful COVID-19 Vaccines - Office

Tunisian Prime Minister Starts Probe Over Arrival of Doubtful COVID-19 Vaccines - Office

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has initiated an investigation into the recent arrival of unidentified COVID-19 vaccines to the country that were not authorized by the government, the prime minister's office said on Monday

CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2021) Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has initiated an investigation into the recent arrival of unidentified COVID-19 vaccines to the country that were not authorized by the government, the prime minister's office said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the press service of Tunisian President Kais Saied said that it received COVID-19 vaccines, which were enough to inoculate 500 people, from the United Arab Emirates as a gift. The press service added that the vaccines were subjected to scrutiny by the country's General Directorate of Military Health.

"The prime minister has ordered that an investigation be initiated immediately into the circumstances of the vaccines' arrival and their distribution," the office said.

Mechichi's office added that it had no information regarding the vaccines that recently arrived in Tunisia.

"The prime minister's office informs that it has no information either about the arrival of the vaccines' batches or about their source, compliance with the necessary legal procedures and health standards, the results of their use," the press service said.

On February 17, the Tunisian national vaccine commission said that the country would receive belated first batches of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines in March, instead of mid-February, as planned earlier. Tunisia is expecting to receive up to 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the World Health Organization-led COVAX Facility, and 100,000 Pfizer shots directly from the US pharmaceutical company.