COVAX facility to ship 90 million Covid-19 vaccines to Africa in February

COVAX Facility has announced that it will ship around 90 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Africa by the end of February.

This initiative is led by the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

According to the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, in a press release, as long as the world’s population is not safe from harm, “no one will be safe until everyone is safe. world will not be safe ”.

She noted that the planned deployment is an essential first step to ensure equitable access to vaccines for the continent.

“Africa has seen other regions launch vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 for too long,” she said.

The initial phase of vaccine distribution will help countries immunize 3% of Africa’s population most in need of protection, including health workers and other vulnerable groups in the first half of 2021.

Sources say several countries were informed by letters from the COVAX facility on January 30 of the soon-to-be-scheduled shipment.

Recipient countries are required to submit finalized national deployment and vaccination plans to receive vaccines from the COVAX facility.

Dr Moeti therefore urged all countries to redouble their efforts to finalize the necessary deployment plans.

“Regulatory processes, cold chain systems and distribution plans need to be in place to ensure that vaccines are shipped safely from ports of entry to delivery. We cannot afford to waste a single dose, ”she added.

The facility hopes to deliver up to 600 million doses if production capacity increases and more vaccines become available.

The goal is to vaccinate at least 20% of Africans by the end of 2021.

Again, four African countries, including Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia, will receive approximately 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

At the same time, the African Union (AU) has secured 670 million doses of vaccine for the continent to be distributed in 2021 and 2022 as countries secure adequate funding.

In addition, Ghana is among 145 counties listed to receive vaccines from a number of vendors through the COVAX facility according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The country is set to receive 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine which is licensed by the Serum Institute of India (AZ / SII).