Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda are all slated to receive COVID-19 vaccines before the end of February.
In a report released on Wednesday by COVAX and the World Health Organization, Ethiopia will receive nearly nine million doses, the largest number of doses, as per the WHO Emergency Use Listing Procedure
Kenya will receive 4,176,000 doses. Uganda receives 3,552,000 doses, while Rwanda will receive 996,000 doses.
Somalia will receive 1,224,000 while Sudan is set to receive 3,396,000 doses compared to 864,000 to be distributed to South Sudan.
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COVAX said it currently anticipates 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be available to the COVAX Facility in Q1 2021, subject to the completion of additional agreements.
It will also be complemented by the larger volumes of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine available to the facility during the same time period.
Additional volumes of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be available in the second quarter and beyond, per the signed advance purchase agreement between Gavi and Pfizer-BioNTech for up to 40 million doses.
At the moment, Tanzania is the only nation in the region that has not ordered any vaccines and won’t receive any in this initial distribution.
President John Magufuli, who has long asserted that God has eliminated COVID-19 in Tanzania, last week asserted that vaccines for it are “inappropriate”
On Monday, Tanzanian Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima explained that the ministry has no plans to receive vaccines for COVID-19 and that any vaccines must receive ministry approval.
The health minister insisted Tanzania is safe.
Story compiled with assistance from wire reports.
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