The AU’s doses will be delivered over the coming months,
with 15 million arriving before the end of 2021, 35 million in the first
quarter of next year and up to 60 million in the second quarter.
"This is important as it allows us to increase the
number of vaccines available immediately," AU coronavirus envoy Strive
Masiyiwa said in an email. "We urge other vaccine producing countries to
follow the lead of the (U.S. government) and give us similar access to buy this
and other vaccines."
Masiyiwa said the Moderna purchase represented the first
time the 55-member AU had secured vaccines that were not fully produced in
Africa.
The new shipments of vaccine are well below what Africa
needs to vaccinate its 1.3 billion people, who have had far less access to the
life-saving vaccines than more prosperous parts of the world. Getting access to
Moderna vaccines adds diversity to the AU's vaccine supply with different
storage requirements.
The Biden administration is deferring delivery of 33 million
doses it had bought from Moderna to give the AU its "spot in line" to
make a purchase, according to Natalie Quillian, the White House's deputy
coordinator for COVID-19 response.
"We are grateful to have helped negotiate this
encouraging step forward between Moderna and the African Union that will
significantly expand access to vaccines on the continent in the
near-term," Quillian said.
The United States, which has seen more than 700,000 people
die from COVID-19, is flush with vaccines. The delayed Moderna deliveries will
not have an impact on efforts to provide booster shots to already inoculated
Americans, Quillian said.
Moderna said it was working to make it possible to fill
doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa by 2023 and has plans to build a
manufacturing plant on the continent.
"This is the first step in our long-term partnership
with the African Union," Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said in a
statement, referring to a Memorandum of Understanding to make up to 110 million
doses for the AU.
Last month, the AU accused here COVID-19 vaccine
manufacturers of denying African countries a fair chance to buy vaccines and
urged manufacturing countries, in particular India, to lift export restrictions
on vaccines and their components.
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