(Bloomberg) -- Uganda’s Health Ministry started denying those not vaccinated against the coronavirus access to its premises in a bid to ramp up the rate of inoculation.

The restriction is an “in-house” initiative to promote vaccination, the ministry’s spokesman, Emmanuel Ainebyoona, said by phone. The Uganda National Medical Stores, a government procurement and distribution agency, started implementing a similar policy days earlier.

Authorities in Africa’s biggest coffee exporter have so far administered about  2.7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses. That’s against a target of vaccinating at least half of the nation’s approximately 42.7 million people before it can consider fully reopening its economy.

The government has received about 7 million doses from countries including the U.S., China, Norway, Ireland and India, according to the ministry. 

Uganda had confirmed 125,426 Covid-19 cases and 3,192 deaths as of Oct. 19, according to the health ministry.

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