Africa-Press – Mozambique. The United States government has donated a further 336,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against the Covid-19 respiratory disease.
Speaking at the ceremony at Maputo International airport where the vaccines were delivered on Friday, the US ambassador, Dennis Hearne, declared that, in its capacity as the largest bilateral donor of vaccines to Mozambique, the US feels proud to be part of a coordinated global effort to bring vital support to Mozambicans.
“Our two governments have worked together in a variety of ways to curb COVID-19 in Mozambique”, said Hearne, cited in a US embassy press release “These vaccines will fill an important need to successfully fight the virus.”
This is the second batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that the US government has donated to Mozambique. The first batch, of 302,400 doses, arrived in July. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has the great advantage that it is administered in a single dose, whereas the other Covid-19 vaccines available require two doses.
The Embassy release adds that “Since the storage of Johnson & Johnson vaccines is less onerous than other vaccines, they are easier to distribute”.
The embassy says that other US assistance against Covid-19 is valued at 62.5 million dollars. This includes the grant of hospital equipment, including 50 ventilators, personal protective equipment for health professionals, and laboratory and oxygen equipment,
The US has pledged four billion dollars to the Covax mechanism, administered by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It has also promised to purchase a billion doses of vaccine for developing countries, and has donated 80 million doses from its own supplies.
