Africa needs USD 12 billion to access COVID-19 vaccine

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  The African Union has a commitment of USD 5 billion promised by the World Bank and other donors, out of the USD 12 billion that African countries need to access the coming COVID-19 vaccine.

This revelation was made at a teleconference meeting convened Tuesday evening following an announcement by global pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTec that their vaccine candidate was showing 90 per cent efficacy.  The firms are now pushing for the emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The meeting convened by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the Republic of South Africa was meant to discuss Africa’s strategy for financing COVID-19 vaccines and to assess options for acquisitions of vaccines in Africa.

In a statement, Ramaphosa stressed that Africa should take appropriate measures, as part of the strategy, to secure timely access to COVID-19 vaccines. He noted that funding for this was expected to come from three sources,  the COVAX Donor Initiative, the World Bank, direct donors, and African Import-Export Bank, which has committed to raise up to USD 5 billion.

On his part, the Chairperson of the Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat said Africa needs to vaccinate around 60 per cent of the population to arrest further transmission and death from COVID-19.

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