China Decides to Provide Vaccine aid for Africa

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Addis Ababa February 20/2021 (ENA) China has decided to provide vaccine aid to African countries including Ethiopia, a concrete step in honoring President Xi Jinping's pledge of making COVID-19 vaccines a global public good.
According a press release sent from Chinese Embassy in Addis Ababa to ENA, China decided to provide 10 million doses of domestic vaccine to the COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries following the request of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The press release stated that China is willing to work together with the international community to strengthen cooperation in vaccines, make vaccines public goods that are accessible and affordable to people in all countries.

So far, China has provided vaccine assistance to 53 developing countries that have made requests, and has exported vaccines to 22 countries, the embassy said.

China and Ethiopia are close partners sharing weal and woe together. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the two sisterly countries have been supporting each other.

As part of the support, China has donated medical supplies and sent medical experts to help Ethiopia fight against the virus, and the vaccine aid will be another tangible action to augment Ethiopian government’s effort to thwart the onslaught of the pandemic, it indicated.

While COVID-19 is still rampaging globally, vaccines are the focus of international cooperation for the next stage, it added.

The press release noted that China and Ethiopia are close partners sharing weal and woe together. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the two sisterly countries have been supporting each other.

“It should be emphasized that China has never pursued any geopolitical goals in its international cooperation on the COVID-19 vaccine, never calculated any economic benefits, and never attached any political strings,” the press release revealed.

Moreover, the Government of China always considers vaccine safety and efficacy as the top priority and the country will continue to work with all parties to address the vaccine deficit, contribute to a global community of health for all, in a bid to win the final victory in the global fight against the pandemic.

“China is committed to building a China-Africa community of health for all and it will continue to work with Africa to fully deliver on the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19, with greater focus on public health, economic reopening and improvement of livelihoods.” said Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ethiopian News Agency
2023