- To support Africa’s vaccination drive, the South African government has pledged to donate two million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to other African countries.
- Accordingto a statement issued by the South African government, the vaccines produced at the Aspen Pharmacare manufacturing facility inGqeberha, will be distributed to various African countries over the next year.
To support Africa’s vaccination drive, the South African government has pledged to donate two million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to other African countries . According to a statement issued by the South African government, the vaccines produced at the Aspen Pharmacare manufacturing facility in Gqeberha, will be distributed to various African countries over the next year.
The doses, worth approximately $18m, reflect South Africa’s solidarity with the continent to fight an unprecedented threat to public health and economic prosperity, President Cyril Ramaphosa said. The President called for a mass vaccination drive to protect the economies and people of Africa. The 69-year-old president had tested positive for COVID-19 on December 12 with mild symptoms and has been isolated at his official residence in Cape Town. It was reported that he is recovering and responding well to the treatment.
More than 100 million vaccine doses have been donated to the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust. The African vaccination group has also purchased 500 million doses to be distributed to countries across the continent. Despite these Africa is regarded as the world’s least vaccinated continent. The World Health Organization (WHO) has projected that Africa might not reach the target of vaccinating 70 percent of its 1.3 billion population until the second half of 2024.
WHO has reported that out of Africa’s 54 countries, only 20 countries have fully vaccinated at least 10 percent of their populations against COVID-19. Ten African countries have less than two percent of their populations fully vaccinated. According to official statistics, about 15 million South Africans are fully vaccinated, representing 38 percent of the adult population,.
