President Joe Biden's administration announced last month it would
donate 500 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to the 100
lowest income countries in the world and will seek no favours in
exchange for the doses.
Strive Masiyiwa told a weekly online briefing of the Africa Centres
for Disease Control that the donations consisted largely of Pfizer
doses and a few Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
"We begin to ship by this weekend the U.S. donations. So some
countries will begin to receive early next week shipments that are
Johnson and Johnson, others will receive shipments that are Pfizer.
No country will receive both," Masiyiwa said.
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Masiyiwa is part of the African
Vaccine Acquisition Trust, which is helping
coordinate the distribution of the vaccines
donated by the United States.
The continent is lagging behind in vaccinating
its population, with just 1% fully inoculated,
John Nkengasong, the Africa CDC director said
during the same meeting.
Africa had targeted to have 800 million doses by
December this year but had only received 65
million so far, Nkengasong said.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by
Raissa Kasolowsky)
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