Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The COVAX initiative has shipped 504, 000 doses of the AstraZeneca /Oxford vaccine to Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d ’ Ivoire .
This makes Côte d ’ Ivoire the second African country and first French – speaking country to receive vaccine doses through the COVAX Facility, the World Health Organisation says .
COVAX is co- led by Gavi , the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and WHO. It aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID – 19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world .
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala said Nigeria ’ s COVAX vaccine supplies will be on the way soon .
Okonjo -Iweala disclosed this on her official Twitter handle @ NOIweala .
She said “ Very happy to see first delivery of #COVAX supported vaccines to Ghana. Excited to see more countries following. Nigeria ’ s supplies should be on its way soon . No trade restrictions or bureaucracy should get in the way. ”
In a Twitter post by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa – @ WHOAFRO on Friday, the agency said 504, 000 doses of Oxford -AstraZeneca vaccine just arrived in Abidjan .
It tweeted “ Cote d ’ Ivoire is the second country in #Africa to receive #COVID 19 vaccines from the COVAX facility !
“ 504, 000 doses of Oxford -AstraZeneca vaccine just arrived in Abidjan . Another step towards #VaccinEquity & a symbol of global cooperation & solidarity.
“ Cote d’ Ivoire will launch its #COVID 19 vaccination campaign on Monday 1 March , with frontline health workers and essential staff being among the first to receive them .
“ This will make it the first African country to roll out #COVAX -funded vaccines. ”
Recall that on Wednesday , Ghana became the recipient of the historic first shipment of COVAX vaccines.
In a statement jointly issued by UNICEF Representative in Ghana, Anne -Claire Dufay; and WHO Representative to Ghana, Dr. Francis Kasolo , it said the arrival of the COVID – 19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic to an end .
“ The only way out of this crisis is to ensure that vaccinations are available for all . We thank all partners that are supporting the COVAX Facility to deliver safe and effective COVID – 19 vaccines to all countries quickly and fairly .
“ These 600, 000 COVAX vaccines are part of an initial tranche of deliveries of the AstraZeneca /Oxford vaccine licensed to the Serum Institute of India, which represent part of the first wave of COVID vaccines headed to several low and middle -income countries.
“ The shipments also represent the beginning of what should be the largest vaccine
procurement and supply operation in history . The COVAX Facility plans to deliver close to two billion doses of COVID -19 vaccines this year . This is an unprecedented global effort to make sure all citizens have access to vaccines.
“ We are pleased that Ghana has become the first country to receive the COVID -19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility , ” it said .
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