- China will donate coronavirus vaccines to three African countries including Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone.
- China is also part of Covax, the global program that seeks to ensure equitable access to shots around the world.
Chinese embassy in Kenya has stated that China will donate coronavirus vaccines to three African countries including Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone. The statement also added that it proposes to support another 38 developing countries
with shots in the future. China is also part of Covax, the global program that seeks to ensure equitable access to shots around the world.
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Health and Child Care minister of Zimbabwe said that it will vaccinate all its citizens against Covid-19 for free after China pledged to donate vaccines to the country. China has not disclosed the Quantities yet. Zimbabwe will also procure additional vaccines to complement the donation from China, he added.
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Earlier, the government had stated that it required $100 million to buy 20 million vaccine doses to inoculate 60 percent of the population or 10 million people, to achieve herd immunity and that it was in talks with Russia and China on the supply of Covid-19 vaccines. Zimbabwe has been facing big surge in COVID 19 cases with January turning out to be the worst month in terms of infections and deaths. The surge in cases was attributed to the more infectious South African variant of the coronavirus allegedly triggered by the reopening of its borders for the Christmas holidays, a move which saw thousands of its citizens return home from South Africa.
