UN-sponsored Johnson vaccines arrive in Yemen

Yemen's internationally recognized government received 151,200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 jab on Sunday, the United Nations children's agency said.

The shipment was managed by the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative.

The doses will be used to vaccinate health workers and other priority groups in the war-torn country, the UNICEF said.

Earlier this year, Yemen received a 360,000-dose shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX initiative.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014 when the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital Sanaa and much of the northern part of the country.

That forced Hadi's government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.

A U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year against the Houthis to try to restore Hadi's rule.

Yemen's internationally recognized government has reported more than 7,780 infectious cases, including 1,461 deaths, in areas under its controls since the outbreak of the pandemic.

However, the actual toll is believed to be much higher given the scarcity of testing.

The Houthi rebels have just reported four cases including one fatality.