Mozambique has taken delivery of 200,000 more doses of the vaccine against COVID-19 devised by Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd. of China, which will help speed up the inoculation of Mozambicans, the Chinese Embassy in Maputo says.

The embassy issued a written statement quoting Mozambican Vice-minister of Health Lídia Cardoso as saying the shipment, delivered last Friday, will boost the national vaccination drive, which began two days before.

China is doing its best to help counter COVID-19 in Mozambique, revive the economy there and improve the lives of Mozambicans, the statement quotes Chinese Ambassador to Mozambique Wang Hejun as saying.

Separately, a newspaper in Mozambique, O País, reports that the latest shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine to arrive there is the third donated by China.

Another report, by the Portuguese news agency Lusa, says Mozambique took delivery of 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine on August 4.