Addis Ababa, December 18, 2021 (FBC) – The French Government donated over one million doses of Johnson and Johnson covid-19 vaccines to Ethiopia that will be delivered today in Addis-Ababa, through COVAX mechanism, according to French Embassy in Addis Ababa.
This donation comes in addition to the 843,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses already donated by France in July and October via COVAX, in partnership with the African Union and its African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) initiative, for the second one.
Committed to vaccine solidarity, France supports the important efforts of the Ethiopian Government to accelerate its national covid-19 vaccination campaign.
These donations are part of a global commitment from the French Government, which made covid-19 vaccine doses sharing a key priority of its global response, in order to help increase vaccine cover on a global scale.
“To fight this pandemic that affects us all, solidarity remains our best weapon,” the Embassy said.
France was the first country to share covid-19 doses through Covax last April and has since then committed to donate 120 million vaccines doses by mid-2022, among which 75.6 million doses have already been donated, according to ENA.
These donations are made up of the same vaccines used by France in its own vaccination campaign – Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Janssen and Moderna – and will enable to vaccinate at least the equivalent of the French population (67 million people).
Most of French donations are made through Covax, a multilateral framework including key partners such as Gavi and UNICEF, to ensure fair and effective access to safe vaccines.