Ramaphosa, Chairman-in-Office of the African Union and President of South Africa, announced on January 13th local time that the AU has obtained 270 million vaccines, and the first batch of 50 million vaccines will arrive in Africa between April and June 2021.
Ramaphosa said that the COVID-19 vaccine implementation plan (COVAX) established with the help of the World Health Organization and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) has played a crucial role in helping low- and middle-income countries obtain vaccines on a fair and just basis.
The AU formed a 10-person team (AVATT) in August 2020 to ensure that the African continent has access to adequate doses of vaccines to achieve herd immunity.
Ramaphosa said that close cooperation between the AU and the World Bank will ensure that all member countries can obtain loans of about $5 billion for vaccines.
But Africa has about 1.5 billion people, and scientists from the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that only at least 60% of the African population can greatly slow the spread of the novel coronavirus by vaccination.
Therefore, Africa still has a long way to go to fight the epidemic, but African people will eventually defeat the virus.
