Ethiopia Receives 108,000 Doses of J&J Covid-19 Vaccine

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has received 108,000 Jonson and Jonson single-shot Covid-19 Vaccines on Monday as its vaccination efforts start picking up steam.

The vaccines are part of three million doses Ethiopia procured through African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) with financing from the World Bank, said Health Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse.

On the day of the new vaccine arrival, more than 50, 000 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the highest doses administered to the public in a day.

The newly arrived one-shot J&J vaccines “will further strengthen our effort to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic and improve vaccine access to more vulnerable groups,” said Dr. Lia.

The Minister also thanked the AVAT partners, including the African Union (AU) and the World Bank for their continued support to Ethiopia’s ongoing immunization campaign.

Ethiopia has administered a total of 2, 575, 687 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the public since the start of vaccination drive on March 13, 2021.

AVAT, a centralized purchasing agent on behalf of the AU Member States, aims to secure the vaccines and financing resources for achieving AU’s Covid-19 vaccination strategy.

– Shipment to Continue –

Monday’s delivery of the vaccines to Ethiopia is part of the historic COVID-19 vaccine advance procurement agreement signed on 28 March 2021 by AVAT for the purchase of 220mln doses of J&J vaccine, with the potential to order an additional 180mln doses.

The agreement and the start of deliveries mark for the first time that the AU Member States have collectively purchased vaccines to safeguard the health of their population, says AU in a statement.

Countries who have ordered vaccines through AVAT will continue to receive shipments for the next following months, says the Pan African bloc.

AU officials believe 400 million vaccines acquired by AVAT are sufficient to immunize a third of the African population.

Featured Image: Dr. Lia, who also thanked UNICEF and Ethiopian Airlines for the logistic support, received the J&J vaccines from AVAT on Monday afternoon. [Photo MoH)