Cote d'Ivoire received a shipment of COVID-19 doses from the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility on Friday, becoming the second country after Ghana to benefit from a program meant to ensure fairer distribution amid a global scramble.

A plane carrying 504,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford jabs touched down in the commercial capital Abidjan. 

The West African nation will launch a vaccination campaign next week.

Frontline medics and workers from essential businesses will be the first batch to be vaccinated. 

COVAX plans to deliver nearly two billion doses to over 90 low- and middle-income countries by the end of this year. 

Countries including Honduras and Nigeria said they're expecting shipments from the program in March.