U.S. donates 5m doses of J&J vaccine to Africa

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken on Tuesday said U.S. has donated an additional five million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for the novel coronavirus to Africa.

Blinken in a statement on Monday said the vaccines would be distributed to countries across the continent following a meeting with global partners to bolster coordination to combat the disease.

“I also announced the U.S. government is making a direct donation of five million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine to the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) the African Union’s vaccine procurement and distribution effort.”

“The United States has donated to Africa more than 155 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines,” Blinken said.

Blinken said he hosted a meeting with foreign ministers and leaders of international organisations, including the World Health Organisation, to discuss an enhanced global action plan to combat the novel coronavirus and other global health threats.

He added that U.S and its global partners discussed ways to improve the administration of vaccines to secure vaccine supply chains to address misinformation, and to support health workers.

Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, India, the European Commission, African Union, and others attended the meeting.