Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame received their first jabs of the COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday at the King Faisal Hospital in Kigali.

The two now join more than 230,000 other Rwandans who have already taken their vaccines as the country continues its fight to stop the virus.

The East African country launched its vaccination drive Friday last week, focusing on healthcare workers, essential service providers and the elderly.

Health minister Daniel Ngamije said last week that the government is aiming to vaccinate 60 percent of the country's population by 2022.

Rwanda is one of the countries that have so far received doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative.

The COVAX initiative has also facilitated the delivery of vaccines to other African countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda.

Health authorities in Rwanda hope to start administering the second shots of the vaccine to those who received the first jab in four weeks.