The World Bank and the African Union’s COVID-19 Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) have agreed to work together to deploy vaccines for 400 million Africans. This follows a meeting between the President of the World Bank, Mr David Malpass, with his team and the AVATT. They discussed the modalities for the partnership that will accelerate vaccine deployment to Africa.

Consequently, the World Bank and the AVATT teams agreed to fast track all administrative procedures to ensure vaccines get into countries as early as possible.

However, Member States will require additional efforts to support their deployment once the vaccines arrive. This includes in-country distribution, securing the required systems, capacities and capabilities for vaccination.

It also includes targeted research and campaigns to identify and address vaccine hesitancy. Countries can achieve this through clear and targeted risk communication and community engagement. These activities will require a significant lift by countries. According to the AU, “the additional support is going to be critical”.

Johnson and Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine

Already AVATT had secured 400 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. This was under a historic COVID-19 vaccine procurement agreement signed on March 28, 2021 with the support of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

Meanwhile, the President of Afreximbank, Prof Benedict Oramah highlighted that vaccine procurements negotiations are not possible without financial backing. According to him, the provision of a US$2billion guarantee on behalf of the AU member states helped put “Africa in a strong negotiating position with producers as we negotiated vaccine procurement”.

Also, Dr. Nkengasong highlighted the importance of vaccination in the recovery of African economies.

“The Johnson and Johnson doses are a critical step towards the continental goal of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of Africans. Reaching this target is a prerequisite to saving African lives and livelihoods, safely reopening our economies and resuming our economic development agenda”.
Dr John N Nkengasong, Director of the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Member of the AVATT.

41 countries at different stages of procuring vaccines

Likewise, Mr. Masiyiwa, indicated that over 41 countries are at different stages of finalising their orders for purchasing the vaccine. According to him, vaccination momentum is growing with countries yearning quickly for sufficient doses in an affordable way.

As such, Mr Strive Masiyiwa, African Union Special Envoy and coordinator of the AVATT lauded the World Bank’s decision to partner with AVATT. He explained that the partnership is on the heels of the US announcement about dose sharing. This, he said, “means countries can be assured they can both access and finance the vaccines they need”.

Under the AVATT structure, AU Member States are allocated vaccines according to the size of their populations. Meanwhile, Member States purchase the vaccines through a pooled procurement mechanism.

These vaccines complement the vaccines offered through the COVAX Facility. The COVAX Facility aims at delivering vaccines for up to 30% of participating countries’ populations. This will enable the AU Member States to reach the continental target.

In his capacity as Chair of the AU, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa established the AVATT on November 6, 2020. The mandate is to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for AU Member States. It also aims at providing the required financing.