The United States Embassy, the African Union Delegation, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announce the arrival of 250,320 doses of Moderna vaccine.
The United States government donated the vaccines. The delivery is part of U.S. government and African Union efforts to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX network. These high-quality vaccines will be made available to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for use by the Congolese people.
The 250,320 donated vaccine doses are part of the U.S. pledge to initially provide at least 25 million doses to Africa. Close collaboration with the African Union on behalf of its member states has helped to facilitate this promise. The hard work of UNICEF and coordination of the World Health Organization through COVAX has made the delivery of millions of vaccines possible.
“This first tranche of vaccine doses will help protect the Congolese people from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 virus,” said U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mike Hammer. “The United States is proud to be the largest single donor to the COVAX facility on COVID-19, and we are honored to work with our African Union, UNICEF, and World Health Organization partners to make this ambitious goal a reality for tens of thousands of Congolese.” Ambassador Hammer further stated that “The United States remains committed to helping the Congo contain the COVID-19 pandemic under the U.S.-DRC Privileged Partnership for Peace, Prosperity, and Preservation of the Environment (PP4PP+P).”
The vaccines have been delivered to the DRC Ministry of Health. Congolese public health officials will provide information on their usage.
