Kenya is among the countries that are set to receive Covid-19 vaccine doses that have been to COVAX by the United Kingdom.
Gavi Vaccine Alliance said on Friday that the first AstraZeneca doses donated will soon arrive in Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.
Zambia and DRC are the first countries in Africa to receive the donated vaccines, as 119,200 doses will be touching down in Zambia’s capital Lusaka and 51,840 doses in Kinshasa on Friday.
Malawi will receive its share of 119,040 doses on Saturday, August 14, Senegal will receive, 140,160 doses on Sunday, Egypt 299,680 doses by August 16, and 299,520 doses will be delivered to Uganda on August 18.
It added that other countries will receive their doses in the near future.
The organisation said that the shipment of UK-donated doses is part of a broader pledge to share 100 million jabs with the rest of the world, of which 80 per cent will be through COVAX.
It said that UK has already donated about 5 million vaccine doses to COVAX and the total number of doses being sent to African countries in this delivery is approximately 3 million.
UK is also covering the costs of syringes, safety boxes, air freight and other ancillary costs in its donation.
“This UK support will help COVAX deliver at a time when global supply is still under significant pressure, and these deliveries in Q3 of 2021 are particularly important in meeting urgent needs and protecting vulnerable populations as new variants spread,” the organization said.
Gavi CEO, the Vaccine Alliance Dr. Seth Berkley said dose donations play an important part in COVAX’s mission.
“The Government of the United Kingdom has been one of global vaccination’s strongest advocates and an early supporter of COVAX. Dose donations play an important part in COVAX’s mission, especially now as we wait for deliveries to ramp up aggressively in the weeks to come. These deliveries will have a direct impact on protecting some of the most vulnerable people in the world,” Berkley said.