Tunisia said on Tuesday it will buy 3.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine directly from Johnson & Johnson, amid sharp criticism of the government for the slow pace of its vaccination campaign.

So far, only about 592,000 Tunisians have received the two doses of vaccine in the country of 11.6 million residents.

After successfully containing the virus in the first wave last year, Tunisia is grappling with a rise in infections. It imposed a lockdown in some cities since last week, but rejected a full national lockdown due to the economic crisis.

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