Lebanon receives first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines

Lebanon receives first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines

Lebanon received its first batch of coronavirus vaccines Saturday ahead of a nationwide campaign to start vaccinations in the tiny Mediterranean country, which has seen a sharp rise in cases and fatalities in recent weeks.

The 28,500 Pfizer doses from Brussels arrived on a plane from Lebanon's national carrier and were to be taken to the Health Ministry's warehouse, state-run National News Agency reported. From there, the vaccines will be sent to other parts of the country.

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The first vaccinations are scheduled to take place in limited numbers on Sunday at four medical centers in the capital Beirut before the process begins in more than a dozen centers on Monday, local media reported. Within two weeks, the Health Ministry says 57 vaccination centers are to be set up nationwide.

Lebanon has registered more than 334,000 cases of coronavirus and 3,915 deaths since the country's first registered case in February last year.

Lebanon succeeded in containing the virus during the pandemic's early months, but the numbers began to increase following a massive blast in the capital's port in August, which caused widespread damage in the city. The number of cases and deaths hit record highs after an estimated