War-torn Yemen has received the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines, the UN children's agency said, a week after the country's coronavirus committee warned of a public health “emergency”.

The AstraZeneca doses arrived in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen's de facto capital, where the internationally recognised government is based after being routed from Sanaa in the north by Huthi rebels, according to an AFP report.

“Yemen received 360,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses shipped via the Covax facility,” Unicef said in a statement, referring to the World Health Organisation-backed scheme to provide jabs to countries in need.

“This first batch is part of 1.9 million doses that Yemen will initially receive throughout 2021,” it added.