Last week China sent 100 000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Equatorial Guinea, the Central African country’s government said, the latest in a series of donations to countries on the continent struggling to procure shots.
The doses developed by China’s Sinopharm arrived on Wednesday in the capital Malabo, the government said in a statement. They will be enough to vaccinate 50 000 people or 4% of Equatorial Guinea’s population.
China is aiming to cultivate goodwill through so-called vaccine diplomacy with lower-income countries. It said this month it was providing vaccine aid to 13 countries globally and planned to help a further 38.
Earlier in the month, it said planned to donate 200 000 vaccine doses to Guinea and 100 000 vaccine doses to Congo Republic.
Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue, the son of President Teodoro Obiang, will be vaccinated first to reassure the population, the government said.
Health workers and individuals at high risk of infection will follow.
In the video below SABC Correspondent Patrick Fok reports on China sending vaccines to Africa
