270 million extra doses of Covid vaccine guaranteed for Africa

270 million extra doses of Covid vaccine guaranteed for Africa

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

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

These vaccines were secured in conjunction with a COVAX vaccine program – an initiative by the World Health Organization and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance to bring more vaccines to Africa on a fair basis.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa praised the measure during an online press conference on Thursday.

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

However, President Ramaphosa warned that while the initiative is ‘vital’, it may “not extend beyond the needs of frontline health workers and therefore may not be sufficient to contain the growing number of pandemics in Africa. “.

Africa is experiencing a second wave that is “greater than the peak experienced last July”, with an average new daily count of more than 25,000 in the last 14 days, “added Dr. Moeti.

The African Export-Import Bank will support the strategy by providing advances of up to $ 2 billion to manufacturers 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 allow member states access to $ 5 billion to buy more vaccines.

Despite promises of solidarity at Covid-19, rich countries are snapping up the supply of promising vaccines

AVATT was formed in August to ensure that the continent could guarantee sufficient vaccine doses to obtain collective immunity.

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

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, an international vaccination agency that includes Amnesty International and Oxfam, said in December that wealthy countries bought enough doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to immunize their populations three times.

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