Zambia’s ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union (AU), Emmanuel Mwamba, on Sunday said the AU has allocated 8.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to his country.
He added that the allocated doses may rise to 25 million by December 2021.
The 8.7 million doses is part of the 270 million COVID-19 vaccines secured this month by the AU and which South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who serves as AU chair, has said will be allocated according to countries’ population size.
The vaccines secured by the AU will be supplied by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, through the Serum Institute of India, and Johnson & Johnson.
“If member states have to buy individually, they have to wait until July 2022, but through this mechanism, we can access the vaccines by April 2021,” Zambia’s ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU, Emmanuel Mwamba said in a statement.
“The vaccines will require approval from the Africa CDC and further approval from local regulatory and other approval mechanisms,” he said, referring to the AU’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 8.7 million doses will be the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines and Zambia’s allocation may rise to 25 million doses by December 2021 when the J&J vaccine comes on board, Mwamba added.
Zambia, with a population close to 18 million, has 45,337 COVID-19 cases and 639 people have died from the disease.