The first Covid-19 vaccine doses donated by the UK through a worldwide distribution scheme have arrived in Zambia, in an important boost for global vaccine equity.
Gavi, the vaccine alliance, said 119,200 doses of AstraZeneca has landed in Lusaka, another 51,840 will arrive in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday.
Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda are among the other African countries also set to benefit from the three million doses donated to the continent by Britain through the World Health Organisation’s Covax distribution scheme.
UK VACCINES HAVE ARRIVED IN ZAMBIA 🇿🇲
— Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) August 13, 2021
119,000 vaccine doses donated from the UK to Zambia through COVAX have now arrived in Lusaka.
Only through vaccinating people globally can we tackle the virus and safeguard against new variants of COVID-19.
Photos from @UNICEF 📸 pic.twitter.com/mrq3QyEFcg
The UK has pledged to donate 100 million spare vaccines to poorer nations, with 75% of people in Britain now double-jabbed.
Nine million have been sent in the first batch with five million of those being distributed by Covax.
The UK is also covering the costs of syringes, safety boxes, air freight and other ancillary costs.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set the target of offering a vaccine to everyone worldwide by the end of 2022.
Mr Johnson tweeted: “Thanks to UK donations, three million of the world’s most vulnerable will now have access to Covid vaccinations.
“They join over one billion people around the world who have been protected by the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The UK will continue to be a leading supporter of Covax.”
The first doses of #COVID19 vaccines donated to #COVAX by the UK are set to land in Zambia and the DRC today! 3 million @AstraZeneca doses will be delivered to 11 African countries in the coming days; the first of 80 million pledged to COVAX in total. https://t.co/gn2vRaF3j7
— Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (@gavi) August 13, 2021
The UK has given £548 million in funding to the Gavi Covax Advance Market Commitment to help procure doses for 92 lower-income economies.
Gavi has praised Mr Johnson’s administration for using the presidency of the G7 to agree major dose-sharing commitments with world leaders at the Carbis Bay, Cornwall, summit in June.
Dr Seth Berkley, chief executive of Gavi, said: “The Government of the United Kingdom has been one of global vaccination’s strongest advocates and an early supporter of Covax.
“Dose donations play an important part in Covax’s mission, especially now as we wait for deliveries to ramp up aggressively in the weeks to come.
“These deliveries will have a direct impact on protecting some of the most vulnerable people in the world.”
More than 600 million doses have already been pledged to Covax by a host of countries.
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