100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine land in Africa
The first shipments of 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine from Team Europe (European Union Member States, Norway and Iceland) has started arriving in African countries.
Of the 100 million doses, 496,800 are for Niger, 496,800 for Conakry, 114,000 for Mauritania, 302,400 for Central African Republic, 50,400 for Djibouti, 2,764,800 for Nigeria, 633,600 for Togo and 230,400 for Republic of the Congo.
The sharing of vaccine is done via COVAX, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), World Health Organisation (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and others. It is one of the three pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, an initiative begun in April 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission, and the Government of France as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVAX aims to coordinate international resources to enable the equitable access of COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments and COVID-19 vaccines.
This sharing of vaccine to Africa is facilitated by a tripartite agreement between Belgium (acting on behalf of Team Europe and supported by the European Commission), Johnson & Johnson and Gavi.
Speaking on the occasion, the President of European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen said, “Team Europe moves forward the global solidarity effort against COVID-19. This batch of almost 100 million doses from Johnson & Johnson, to be delivered through COVAX, is part of our pledge to share at least 500 million doses of vaccines in the coming months with the most vulnerable countries. The first doses have reached Niger, with more doses arriving in a number of countries this week.”
Taking it to twitter, the European Commission tweeted,
#TeamEurope is donating almost 100 million doses of #COVID19 vaccine for 2021.
— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) November 22, 2021
The first shipments – delivered through #COVAX – are arriving in African countries.
This is part of our pledge to share at least 500 million vaccines by mid-2022 with the most vulnerable countries.
The M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson – Paul Stoffels said, “We welcome the leadership shown by the EC and EU Member States in transferring these doses to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination in low and lower-middle income countries and to help address the global vaccine equity challenge. We will continue to support governments that have doses of our vaccine to share, particularly through the COVAX Facility as we believe that it is an essential mechanism to help combat the pandemic globally.”
The C.E.O. of GAVI – Dr. Seth Berkley said, “As part of the Team Europe commitment to COVAX, and thanks to the Belgian government’s support, we are delighted to see the first of almost 100 million donated Johnson & Johnson doses heading to Africa. We have worked hand in hand from the beginning with President von der Leyen, her team, as well as the European Investment Bank and EU Member States to make COVAX a success.”
The E.U. member States who have donated vaccines include Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Team Europe is one of the strongest and most committed supporters of equitable access to vaccines. The E.U. Member States committed to share over 300 million doses with low and lower-middle income countries by end 2021, and the European Commission will donate an additional 200 million doses by mid-2022, of which the majority is destined for COVAX. The European Commission has also announced EUR 400 million in grants for the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (Gavi COVAX AMC) and EUR 600 million in guarantees through the European Investment Bank.
