The South African Government has, through the African Renaissance Fund (ARF), signed an agreement with the African Vaccination Acquisition Trust (AVAT) to donate about two million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines to African countries.
According to the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, the donation embodies South Africa’s solidarity with their fellow Africans with whom they are united in fighting an unprecedented threat to public health and economic prosperity.
The only way in which we can prevent Covid-19 transmission and protect economies and societies on our continent, is to successfully immunize a critical mass of the African population with safe and effective vaccines, he continued.
The value of the donation is $18m (£13m), and will be made available to other countries starting from 2022 through the African Medical Suppliers Platform (AMSP), which was launched by the African Union (AU).
Source : BBC