The African Union has declared its intention to buy up to 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from American pharmaceutical company Moderna in an arrangement by the White House which will defer delivery of some doses intended for the United States to facilitate the deal.
The AU’s doses will be delivered over the coming months, with 15 million arriving before the end of the year, 35 million in the first quarter of 2022 and up to 60 million in the second quarter.
In a statement by the AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa “This is important as it allows us to increase the number of vaccines available immediately,”
“We urge other vaccine producing countries to follow the lead of the [US government] and give us similar access to buy this and other vaccines.”
Meanwhile, the new shipments are well below what Africa needs to vaccinate its 1.3 billion people, who have had far less access to the life-saving vaccines than more prosperous parts of the world.
@@@
