270 million additional doses of Covid vaccine provided for Africa

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African Union President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Since the beginning of this pandemic, our focus as a continent has been on collaboration and collective efforts. We have firmly adhered to the principle that no country should be left behind.

All 270 million doses of vaccine will be available this year, with at least 50 million available for the crucial period from April to June 2021. “

These vaccines were provided in conjunction with a vaccination program from COVAX – an organization of the World Health Organization and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance initiative to bring more vaccines to Africa on an equitable basis.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa praised the move at an online press briefing on Thursday.

“Covax can only cover 20% of the African population, so it’s really great to see the African Union’s efforts to deliver 270 million temporary doses by the end of 2021 …,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti.

However, President Ramaphosa warned that while the initiative was “vital”, it may not extend beyond the needs of front-line health workers and therefore may not be enough to control the growing number of pandemics in Africa. ”

Africa is facing a second wave that is “higher than the peak last July”, with an average daily number of new cases of more than 25,000 in the last 14 days, “Dr Moeti added.

The African Export and Import Bank will support the strategy by providing producers with advances of up to $ 2 billion on behalf of member states, the South African presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

The African Union and the World Bank are also working together to give Member States access to $ 5 billion to buy more vaccines.

Despite promises of solidarity on Covid-19, rich countries continue to reduce supply of promising vaccines

AVATT was formed in August to ensure that the continent can provide enough doses of vaccine to obtain immunity from the herd.

The announcement is welcome news for Ramaphosa, as South Africa extended coronavirus restrictions on Monday, citing a “massive increase” in Covid-19 cases caused by a variant discovered last year.
Meanwhile, countries have been buying vaccines for months.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, an international vaccine surveillance dog that includes Amnesty International and Oxfam, said in December that rich countries had bought enough doses of Covid-19 vaccine to immunize their population three times.

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