CAPE TOWN - Equatorial Guinea will receive the first batch of vaccine donations from China on Wednesday, making it the first African country to benefit from the aid.
China joined the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global initiative, Covax, aimed at providing equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, and donated 10 million vaccine doses to help meet the needs of developing countries.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China has taken the steps to honour its pledge to make vaccines affordable and accessible in developing countries.
“This is the first batch of vaccine aid provided by the Chinese government to African countries, it is an important measure for China to make its vaccines a global product,” Wang said in a press conference on Tuesday.
“It is also an important step implementing President Xi Jinping’s promise from last year for China-African unity for fighting the pandemic.
“After research and development, African countries are to be the first to benefit from the measure,” he said.
Pakistan was the first country to receive Chinese vaccine aid and a handover ceremony took place at the Noor Khan Air Base on Monday.
Pakistan plans to roll out its national vaccination drive in order to vaccinate its front-line health-care workers nationally.
Cambodia, Laos and Peru are the other countries who also benefited from the donations in China's bid to support countries who are in urgent need of a vaccine and have authorised it for emergency use.
"Cambodia received China's vaccine aid and Laos. Vaccine aid to Equatorial Guinea will be shipped tomorrow. Meanwhile, the first batch of vaccines exported by China to Peru arrived today," the spokesperson said.
"China will continue its vaccine co-operation with relevant countries, offer support within its capability and make concrete contributions to securing a victory against the pandemic as soon as possible and to building a global community of health for all," said Wang.
African News Agency