Zimbabwe to acquire COVID-19 vaccine from China

Zimbabwe will be in the first group of 14 developing nations that will soon receive vaccine aid from China, Guo Shaochun, the Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, said on Tuesday, following an announcement from Beijing.

On Monday, Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said China was providing vaccines to Pakistan, Brunei, Nepal, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Palestine, Belarus, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea as part of his country's efforts to make COVID-19 vaccines accessible and affordable to developing nations.

Wang said after providing the vaccine to the first group of developing nations, China will assist a further 38 developing countries with vaccines.

"China supports relevant companies in exporting vaccines to countries in urgent need that have approved Chinese vaccines and authorized their emergency use," he said. "China will continue to provide in a timely manner, to the best of its capability, vaccines to relevant countries, especially developing countries, and contribute its share to building a community of health for all mankind."

So far vaccines made by Sinopharm and Sinovac have been exported to several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Chile, where clinical studies have been conducted.

The gesture from the Chinese government has widely been lauded as commendable, coming at a time when the European Union has started to control vaccine exports.

Last week during a virtual state of the world address at the World Economic Forum Davos Dialogues, South African President and African Union Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa blasted rich nations for hoarding coronavirus vaccines.

Zimbabwe is battling a second wave of coronavirus that started during the festive season and has seen a high number of infections and deaths. However, the country, like many other African countries, is yet to begin a vaccination program for its people.

Zimbabwe Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga said last week that the nation was finalizing a vaccine roll out plan and deployment strategy that will see the introduction of a vaccine.

Professor Mthuli Ncube, the finance minister of Zimbabwe, said with some innovative financial structuring and the use of the 2020 budget surplus, the country can purchase vaccines to inoculate the entire population. According to its state media, $100 million has been set aside to purchase enough COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate 60 percent of the population.

Zimbabwe also is scheduled to receive 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses through an African Union facility supported by Afreximbank.