China-donated vaccine lands in Ethiopia

Supplies of a COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm arrived in Ethiopia on Tuesday.

The doses, donated by the Chinese government, were received at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport by Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan, Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse and the state minister of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Birtukan Ayano.

“China is the first to provide Ethiopia with vaccine aid through the bilateral intergovernmental channel, which speaks volumes of the profound traditional friendship between the two countries,” Zhao told reporters.

Zhao said the Chinese government has been donating vaccines to dozens of countries, as an expression of its solidarity with these countries in the fight against the pandemic.

Also on Tuesday, a second batch of the Sinopharm vaccine arrived in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba.

Bolivian Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta, Health Minister Jeyson Auza and Chinese Ambassador to Bolivia Huang Yazhong were on hand to receive the shipment.

Auza thanked China’s support for making the procurement possible, saying that the doses will help beef up a vaccination drive launched 12 days ago at border areas to prevent the spread of the virus variant initially found in Brazil.

Mayta said that once again China has demonstrated cooperation with the South American country.

“These vaccines … contribute to the largest immunization campaign carried out by Bolivia,” Mayta said.