China to provide COVID-19 vaccine aid to African countries including Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, February 19, 2021 (FBC) – China has decided to provide vaccine aid to African countries including Ethiopia, a concrete step in honoring President Xi Jinping’s pledge of making COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, a press release the embassy sent to FBC, indicates.

While COVID-19 is still rampaging globally, vaccines are the focus of international cooperation for the next stage.

China is willing to work together with the international community to strengthen cooperation in vaccines, make vaccines public goods that are accessible and affordable to people in all countries, and make them truly become a people’s vaccine.

At the request of the WHO, China decided to provide 10 million doses of domestic vaccine to the COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries.

On top of that, China has so far provided vaccine assistance to 53 developing countries that have made requests, and has exported vaccines to 22 countries.

“China is committed to building a China-Africa community of health for all. China will continue to work with Africa to fully deliver on the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19, with greater focus on public health, economic reopening and improvement of livelihoods.” said Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China and Ethiopia are close partners sharing weal and woe together. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the two sisterly countries have been supporting each other.

China has donated medical supplies and sent medical experts to help Ethiopia fight against the virus, and the vaccine aid will be another tangible action to augment Ethiopian government’s effort to thwart the onslaught of the pandemic.

It should be emphasized that China has never pursued any geopolitical goals in its international cooperation on the COVID-19 vaccine, never calculated any economic benefits, and never attached any political strings.

And the Chinese government always considers vaccine safety and efficacy as the top priority. China will continue to work with all parties to address the vaccine deficit, contribute to a global community of health for all, in a bid to win the final victory in the global fight against the pandemic.