Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo received his COVID-19 jab on Tuesday to kickstart the country's mass vaccination drive.

The president took his jab at the State House in front of cameras as a show of confidence in the vaccines.

"I expressed faith in the vaccination efforts by endorsing it myself earlier today as we continue distributing it to ensure the protection of our citizens especially Frontline workers. Let us flatten the curve by adhering to the safety measures to Stop COVID-19 in Somalia," he said.

The Horn of African country received 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the international COVAX vaccine initiative.

Other than healthcare workers, the presidency said the mass vaccination drive will also target the elderly and patients with chronic conditions.

By Tuesday, the country had reported 9,328 COVID-19 infections with 379 deaths.

The Somali government said earlier it had made plans to get enough vaccine from COVAX to vaccinate at least 20% of its population of more than 15 million people.