U.S. Delivery of Single-Shot J&J COVID Vaccine Bolsters Southern African Efforts

By ADF On Aug 10, 2021

A shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated from the United States’ supply is unloaded at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 31. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

ADF STAFF

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has given South Africa a major shot in the arm.

Working with COVAX, the global distribution initiative, the U.S. delivered 5.6 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Johannesburg on July 31 and August 2 — the largest bilateral vaccine donation to date, according to the U.S. Embassy in South Africa.

“The Pfizer COVAX donation is a very, very substantial donation from the United States,” Dr. Nicholas Crisp, who coordinates the country’s vaccination rollout, said during a July 30 broadcast. “It’s so large, it’s not coming in one consignment. It should be into the pipeline during the course of the next week.”

With more than 2.4 million confirmed cases and more than 72,000 deaths through July, South Africa has been hit harder by the pandemic than any country on the continent.

Crisp, the deputy director-general of the National Department of Health, called the U.S. donation “the big step up” in South Africa’s ability achieve its goal of administering 1 million doses every three days.

Through July 31, the country said it administered nearly 7.6 million doses. While the government struggled to build a large enough supply to meet the demand, several deliveries of purchased vaccine doses to South Africa caused significant logistical problems.

Crisp expressed great relief in announcing the U.S. donation, saying it would combine with purchased doses to give his country enough vaccine for the rest of the year.

“That vaccine will make a massive difference,” he said. “We are finally, finally out of this vaccine dearth. We expect to see massive increases in our capabilities in the field.

“There’s no vaccine constraint going forward.”

Wave after wave of COVID-19 infections has hit the southern region of Africa harder than any other on the continent with nearly half of all continental infections and more than half of all deaths.

The United States has responded by donating vaccines and funds to several countries through COVAX and the African Union’s Vaccine Acquisition Trust.

The U.S. Army recently agreed to a $3.5 billion contract with Pfizer for 500 million doses that will be donated by the end of 2022 to 100 low-income countries around the world. Shipping is expected to begin by the end of August.

Todd Haskell, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in South Africa, and Mmamoloko Kubayi, South African acting health minister, celebrate the first shipment of more than 5.6 million doses of Pfizer vaccine donated by the United States to South Africa at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on July 31. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

The U.S also donated $2 billion to Gavi, the vaccine alliance, in support of COVAX and pledged another $2 billion in 2022.

More immediately, the U.S. has donated and shipped 110 million doses from its own supply. AU member states will receive about 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with a goal of vaccinating at least 60% of the African population.

Mozambican Health Minister Armindo Tiago said a recent delivery by the U.S. through COVAX will allow for rapid expansion of his country’s rollout.

“Though only 3% of the population have been immunized since the start of the national vaccination plan in March, over the next few days we want to speed up the process to reach about 20% of the eligible population by the end of September,” he said in a statement.

On July 26, Mozambique received 302,400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the U.S., giving it a total of 686,400 doses received from COVAX.

“Because it is a single dose, exactly 302,400 Mozambicans will benefit from immunization,” Ambassador Dennis W. Hearne said in a statement. “I have no doubt this will help save many lives.”

Other U.S. donations in Southern Africa:

Botswana received its first shipment via COVAX — 38,400 doses of AstraZeneca — on May 29.
Eswatini received 302,400 doses of Johnson & Johnson on July 27, giving it 328,800 total doses through COVAX.
Lesotho received 302,400 doses of Johnson & Johnson on July 23, giving it 374,400 total.
Madagascar received its first shipment — 302,750 doses of Johnson & Johnson — on July 27.
Malawi received 192,000 doses of AstraZeneca on July 24, giving it 552,000 total.
Namibia received 43,000 doses of AstraZeneca on May 24, giving it 67,000 total.
Zambia received 151,200 doses of Johnson & Johnson on July 28, giving it 758,400 total.