270 million extra doses of Covid vaccine for Africa

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

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

These vaccines are protected alongside a vaccine program from COVAX, an initiative of the World Health Organization and Gavi Vaccine Alliance to bring more vaccines to Africa on a fair basis.

The WHO regional director for Africa praised the move during an online media briefing Thursday.

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

However, President Ramaphosa cautioned that while the initiative was ‘vital’, it may not ‘extend beyond the needs of primary care health professionals and thus may not be enough to stem the ever-increasing toll of the pandemic in Africa’.

Africa is experiencing a second wave that is “above last July’s peak,” with an average daily number of new cases exceeding 25,000 in the past 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 give member states access to $ 5 billion to buy more vaccines.

Despite promises of solidarity with Covid-19, wealthy countries are grasping the supply of promising vaccines

AVATT was established in August to ensure that the continent could receive adequate doses of vaccine to achieve immunity to the herd.

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

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, an international vaccine watchdog to which Amnesty International and Oxfam belong, said in December that wealthy countries had bought enough Covid-19 vaccine doses to triple immunize their populations.

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