UNICEF has signed an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV to supply about 220 million doses of the Johnson&Johnson single-dose vaccine for all 55 Member States of the African Union (AU) by the end of 2022.
Consequently, the first batch of a proposed total of some 35 million doses are to be delivered by the end of this year. This agreement will help fast-track the implementation of the Advance Purchase Commitment (APC) signed between the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust and Janssen in March of this year.
To add, that agreement secured an option to order another 180 million doses, thus bringing the maximum access up to a total of 400 million doses by the end of 2022.
AVAT was established by the African Union in November 2020 to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the African continent, with a goal of vaccinating 60 per cent of each AU country’s population.
Under the plan, the AVAT and African Export-Import Bank (AfreximBank) on behalf of AU signed a cooperation agreement. Therefore, UNICEF will procure and deliver COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the AVAT initiative.
The agreement includes other partners namely, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Bank.
According to the press statement released today, July, 8, 2021, although there are other vaccines that will be considered as part of the initiative’s portfolio, Janssen’s single-dose vaccine is the first to be included.
“African countries must have affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible. Vaccine access has been unequal and unfair, with less than 1 per cent of the population of the African continent currently vaccinated against COVID-19. This cannot continue,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore indicated.
“UNICEF, with its long history of delivering vaccines all around the world, is supporting global COVID-19 vaccinations efforts through AVAT, COVAX, and other channels to maximize supply and access to vaccines.”
Executive Director Henrietta Fore, UNICEF
UNICEF relies on its decade of experience as the largest single vaccine buyer in the world as it does annually for routine immunization. UNICEF will act as a procurement and logistics agency on behalf of the AVAT partnership.
In addition to its role in this partnership, UNICEF is also a key implementing partner for the COVAX Facility led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO and CEPI.
Under this initiative, UNICEF has contributed to the delivery of more than 100 million doses to 135 countries. UNICEF’s role procuring and delivering COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of AVAT will complement and supplement the shared COVAX goal of ensuring equitable access to quality-assured COVID-19 vaccines.
“Vaccinating the world against COVID-19, as the virus continues to spread and mutate, is one of the largest and most complex collective health undertakings the world has ever seen, and we need all hands on deck,” averred Henerietta Fore.
“In the race to defeat this virus, equity is not a ‘nice to have’— it’s an absolute necessity. This pandemic has cost everyone something, and some people everything. Only together can we bring the suffering to an end.”
