At least 50 million COVID-19 vaccines are to be purchased and delivered across the continent over three years through a public-private partnership.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is working with the Mastercard Foundation under the latter’s Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative to acquire and deliver vaccines to millions of people, and strengthen vaccine manufacturing across Africa.

According to the Africa CDC, the partnership builds on global efforts to expand vaccine access and supports the AU’s COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access Strategy, which aims to vaccinate at least 60% of the African population – about 750 million people – by the end of 2022. It says that fewer than 2% of Africans have received a vaccine dose to date.

Earlier collaborations between the Africa CDC and the Mastercard Foundation have included expanding access to COVID testing kits and enhancing surveillance capacity on the continent. Through that collaboration, nearly 2 million tests have been deployed in Africa, as well as more than 12 000 trained healthcare workers and rapid responders.

22 June 2021
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