In a boost to the African Union’s target to vaccinate 60% of the continent’s population by 2022, the World Bank and the AU have announced that they are partnering to support the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (Avatt) initiative with resources to allow countries to purchase and deploy vaccines for up to 400 million people across Africa.
And the sooner the continent reaches herd immunity, the sooner its economies will be able to reopen.
This regional effort complements Covax and comes at a time of rising Covid-19 cases in the region. World Bank financing is available to support the purchase and deployment of doses secured by Avatt.
"Working together, we can expedite doses to countries and support deployment. Countries urgently need more pathways for acquiring vaccines that match their needs and have early delivery schedules,” said World Bank Group president David Malpass.
“As a result of this joint initiative between the World Bank and African institutions such as the Africa Import Export Bank and the Africa Centre for Disease Control, we now have the capacity to vaccinate at least 400 million people, or 30% of our population of 1.3 billion,” said Strive Masiyiwa, African Union Special Envoy and coordinator of the Avatt.
The Bank has $12 billion in vaccine financing available to help countries purchase and distribute vaccines and address readiness issues. It has already approved operations to support rollout in 36 countries. By end June, it expects to be supporting vaccination efforts in 50 countries, two thirds of which are in Africa. The organisation also has strong partnerships with regional institutions such as the Africa Center for Disease Control, West African Health Organization, and the African Union Commission to enhance cross-border collaboration on disease surveillance, preparedness and response.
Avatt has already successfully negotiated 220 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (J&J/Janssen) vaccine for use by African countries, with an option for 180 million more based on demand.
