COVAX Facility has announced that it will ship about 90 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Africa before the end of February.

This initiative is led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

According to WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti in a press release, until the global population is out of harm’s way, “no one will be safe until everyone is safe.”

She noted that the planned roll-out is a critical first step to ensuring the continent gets equitable access to vaccines.

“Africa has watched other regions start Covid-19 vaccination campaigns from the side-lines for too long," she said.

The initial phase of the vaccine distribution will support countries to immunize 3 per cent of the African population most in need of protection, including health workers and other vulnerable groups in the first half of 2021.

Sources say several countries were notified with letters from COVAX facility on January 30, on the soon expected shipment.

Recipient countries are required to submit finalized national deployment and vaccination plans to receive vaccines from the COVAX facility.

Dr Moeti, therefore, urged all countries to bolster their efforts to finalise the necessary deployment plans.

"Regulatory processes, cold chain systems and distribution plans need to be in place to ensure vaccines are safely expedited from ports of entry to delivery. We can’t afford to waste a single dose," she added.

The facility is hopeful of providing up to 600 million doses should production capacity increases and more vaccines become available.

The objective is to vaccinate at least 20 per cent of Africans by the end of 2021.

Again, four African countries that include Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia are to receive about 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) has secured 670 million vaccine doses for the continent which will be distributed in 2021 and 2022 as countries secure adequate financing.

Also, Ghana is among 145 counties listed to receive vaccines from a number of suppliers through the COVAX Facility according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The country is earmarked to take delivery of 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine which is licensed to the Serum Institute of India (AZ/SII).