First batch of vaccines donated by China to Ethiopia reaches Bole International Airport

Addis Ababa, March 30, 2021 (FBC) –The first batch of vaccines donated by China to Ethiopia has reached Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa. Officials of the health ministry and other dignitaries have attended the reception program at the airport.

On the occasion, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan, on belaf of the government of his country, reaffirmed continued support in the fight against the pandemic.

The Health Minister, Dr. Lia Tadesse, to her part, has recounted China’s timely and invaluble support of COVID 19 control supplies when Ethiopia had first faced with the onset of the pandemic.

Ministry of Health said it would receive 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from China’s state-backed China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) on Tuesday.

The Sinopharm doses are the first shots Ethiopia has secured outside the global COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative, Health Minister Lia Tadesse told Reuters in a text message.

Ethiopia is struggling to administer shots and tame infections that have spiked.

In the past month, it has recorded a 26% increase in coronavirus infections and deaths rose by 18%, health ministry data shows. On Thursday, Africa’s disease control body, the Africa CDC, said Ethiopia had reported the highest number of new cases in the last week of any country on the continent.

Ethiopia has recorded 200,563 infections and 2,801 deaths since its first case was announced in March last year.

On Monday, Johnson & Johnson said it had agreed to supply up to 400 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the African Union (AU) from the third quarter of 2021.

On March 7, Ethiopia received nearly 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneza vaccine through COVAX.

In February the minister said Ethiopia hoped to inoculate at least a fifth of the country’s 110 million people by the end of the year.