African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) has delivered 108 000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Ethiopia as part of the first monthly shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
In a statement by the Africa CDC, AVAT says this is part of a total of 6.4 million vaccine doses to be shipped to African Union Member States.
The Member States who have ordered vaccines through AVAT will continue to receive shipments for the next following months, in collaboration with the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP), UNICEF is providing logistical and delivery services to the Member States.
These deliveries are part of the historic COVID-19 vaccine advance procurement agreement signed in March by AVAT for the purchase of 220 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, with the potential to order an additional 180 million doses.
The agreement and the start of deliveries mark for the first time that the African Union Member States have collectively purchased vaccines to safeguard the health of the African population.
In total, the 400m vaccines acquired by AVAT are sufficient to immunise a third of the African population.
Below is the full statement by Africa CDC:
