UNICEF donates 220million Covid-19 vaccines to Africa

By Our Reporter

12^th July 2021

The UN children’s agency-UNICEF has signed an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutical NV to supply up to 220 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine for all 55 Member States of the African Union (AU).

Some 35 million doses are to be delivered by the end of this year while the rest are expected before the end of 2022.

The new agreement implements the Advance Purchase Commitment (APC) signed between the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and Janssen earlier in March that secured an option to order another 180 million doses, bringing the maximum access up to a total of 400 million doses by the end of 2022.

The African Union established AVAT in November 2020 to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the African continent, with a goal of vaccinating 60 per cent of each AU country’s population.

Under the plan, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and AVAT have signed a cooperation agreement on behalf of the AU for the development of an Advance Procurement Commitment (APC) Framework to support Member State access to COVID-19 vaccines.

UNICEF will procure and deliver COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the AVAT initiative together with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Bank.

While multiple vaccines are anticipated to be part of the initiative’s portfolio, Janssen’s single-dose vaccine is the first to be included.