UNICEF, Partners To Supply 220m COVID- 19 Vaccines For AU

T HEUnited Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF) is to partner Janssen Pharmaceutical NV to supply 220 million doses of the J& J single- dose COVID- 19 vaccines to 55- member African Union ( AU) countries by the end of 2022.

In a statement by UNICEF’S

Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, in Maiduguri yesterday, she disclosed that 35 million doses of vaccines are to be delivered by De - cember this year.

“The agreement between UNICEF and Janssen Pharmaceutical NV will help implement the Advance

Purchase Commitment ( APC) signed between the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust ( AVAT) and Janssen last March,” she said.

She noted that the agreement was to secure an option to order another 180 million doses, bringing the maximum access to a total of 400 million doses by December, 2022.

“Only together can we bring the suffering to an end,” she declared. “The AU established AVAT in November, 2020 to deliver COVID- 19 vaccines to the African countries,” she said, adding that the goal was to vaccinate 60 per cent of each AU country’s population.