300m Covid-19 vaccines secured by the AU
By Modupe Shodeinde
The African Union has secured close to 300 million Covid-19 vaccines to be allocated to member nation.
The vaccines according to Associated Press are being secured independently of the global COVAX effort.
This was confirmed by the Senior Science Adviser for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC, Dr Nicaise Ndembi, on Wednesday.
Ndembi said the doses will be allocated on the continental platform the AU set up in 2020 to make it easier for the 54 African countries to pool their purchasing power for bulk purchase.
He said that the continent seeks to vaccinate 780 million people which is 60 percent of its population of 1.3 billion.
Individual African countries have been negotiating large purchase agreements with pharmaceuticals.
Africa requires 1.5 billion doses for the vaccination exercise at an estimated cost of $10 billion.
Ndembi also said that the union was expecting 600 million doses from the COVAX facility.
