Moderna announced on Tuesday that it will make up to 110 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine available to African countries, marking a breakthrough on the world’s least vaccinated continent, according to local officials.
Moderna plans to deliver the first 15 million doses by the end of this year, followed by 35 million in the first quarter of 2022 and up to 60 million in the second quarter, according to the announcement. “All doses are available at Moderna’s lowest tiered price,” the statement reads.
“It’s a great day for us,” Strive Masiyiwa, the African Union’s special envoy for COVID-19, told reporters, after African nations had been frustrated for months by vaccine hoarding and delayed delivery from wealthier countries.
He commended the US for effectively allowing African countries to skip forward in line to purchase Moderna dosages. According to a White House official, the US will defer delivery of about 33 million Moderna doses that were originally intended for the US between December and February so that the AU can purchase them instead.
Masiyiwa emphasized that African countries will first purchase 50 million Moderna vaccines, with the possibility of purchasing another 20 million per month in April, May, and June, based on the company’s performance in December. “We are in a position to get further vaccines from Moderna,” he continued, “but we need to see more precise data about their manufacture in Africa.”
Masiyiwa claims that if the complete contract with Moderna is executed, African nations will be able to meet their objective of vaccinating 450 million people by September 2022. That’s half of the continent’s population, or 900 million individuals, who have been vaccinated. African countries had previously reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson for up to 400 million doses.
This is “the first step in our long-term relationship with the African Union,” according to Moderna, which has been vocal about the need for many more COVID-19 vaccine doses.
With barely over 5% of its population properly vaccinated against COVID-19, Africa and its 1.3 billion people remain the world’s least-vaccinated area.
This agreement is distinct from Moderna’s partnership with the global COVAX project to supply up to 500 million doses from late this year through 2022, according to the company. COVAX seeks to provide doses to countries with poor and medium incomes.
Despite all of these vaccines, the African continent would not be able to adequately vaccinate 10% of its population by the end of the year, according to Vera Songwe, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
According to Seth Berkley of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, less than 9% of the population in Africa has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which he calls “unacceptable.”
COVAX plans to have 470 million pills accessible for Africa by the end of the year, and 900 million doses by the end of March, he said. So far, 127 million doses have been administered, according to him.
