Macron, France drive 10m vaccines to Africa
Macron |
African Union Member States will receive an additional 10 million doses of Astra Zeneca and Pfizer
COVID-19 vaccines over the next three months through a new partnership between the French government and the African Union.The vaccines will be allocated
and distributed by the initiative known as the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust
(AVAT) and the COVAX global vaccine initiative.
The AVAT initiative was set up as
a pooled procurement mechanism for the African Union Member States to be able
to buy enough vaccines for at least 50% of their needs. The AVAT works closely
with the COVAX initiative which seeks to provide the other 50% through
donations. AVAT is managed on behalf of the African Union Member States by an
alliance of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC),
the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), as well as the
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) which also provides the funding for
the acquisition of vaccines. AVAT has already acquired enough vaccines for
African countries to vaccinate 400 million people, or one-third of the African
population, by September next year, at a cost of $3 billion, supported by an
innovative partnership with the World Bank.
Since the beginning of the
pandemic, President Emmanuel Macron of France has been a powerful advocate in
support of Africa’s need to have equitable access to vaccines and was the first
leader to welcome and acknowledge the efforts of the African Union Member
States to build institutions like AVAT. He has met several times with the
African Union’s leadership and has also travelled to South Africa where the
French development agency Proparco is helping to expand Africa’s largest
vaccine manufacturing facility. France will also contribute to the WHO-supported
Hub which will enable mRNA vaccines technology transfer to the African
continent.
The French government has also
been a strong advocate of vaccine sharing in the fight against COVID-19 in
order to accelerate global vaccination rates and ensure equitable access to
safe and efficacious immunization against COVID-19. In April of this year,
France became the first country to share doses with COVAX, a global vaccine
initiative managed by CEPI, Gavi, WHO and UNICEF. Through its new partnership
with AVAT, the French government will add to these efforts and advance its commitment
of sharing at least 60 million doses before the end of 2021.
“The donation by the French
Republic of 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the African continent is a
clear and welcome demonstration of human solidarity and political cooperation
at a time the world needs this most. A
safer and healthier Africa is a prerequisite for a safer and healthier world. I
commend President Macron and the government and people of France for this
important contribution to our continent’s fight against illness and against the
unfortunate and avoidable reality of unequal access to vaccines in many regions
of the world, including Africa,” Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of
South Africa and African Union COVID-19 Champion, said.
“The solution to the pandemic
will only come from strong cooperation, between multilateral, regional and
national actors. Based on our solid partnership with the African Union, I want
us to build together on the expertise and the political legitimacy of African
leaders. Thus 10 million doses of Astra Zeneca and Pfizer vaccines will be
donated by the French people to the African Union, who will decide on their
allocation, in coordination with COVAX. This demonstrates my will, as President
of France, to stand shoulder to shoulder with African people and face the
pandemic together,” Macron said.
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