The Mastercard Foundation, in partnership with the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, delivered a total of 3,326,400 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines against COVID-19 as part of a $1.5 billion initiative launched in June 2021 called “Saving Lives and Livelihoods.”
UNICEF received the vaccines, which arrived at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Monday afternoon. Then the vaccines will be handed over to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) for cold storage and further distribution to vaccination centres across the country.
According to a joint statement released by the foundation and Africa CDC, the delivery is part of the more than 65 million doses of vaccines the initiative plans on purchasing and delivering to Africa. Nonye Omotola signed the statement on behalf of the MasterCard Foundation, whereas Benjamin Djoudalbaye signed on behalf of Africa CDC.
Director of the Africa CDC, Dr. John Nkengasong said, “We are steadily picking up momentum in the continental vaccination effort. In September, the first tranche of AVAT-purchased vaccines began rolling out to 39 countries. Now we are announcing the delivery of vaccines purchased through the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative. And we are working hard on the ground to get jabs-in-arms, which is the ultimate measure of success.”
Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, which issued $2 billion to the vaccine manufacturers, also said that the bank is proud to have played its part in contributing to the arrangement of vaccine supply and distribution.
