By Alexander Winning and Joe Bavier
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The vaccination task force of the African Union (AU) said on Friday that Russia had offered 300 million doses of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, along with a funding package for countries that want to secure the shots.
The Russian vaccine will be available from May 2021 for a period of 12 months, reads a statement. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said some deliveries could start in May, but most would be from June.
The 55-member AU hopes that 60% of the 1.3 billion people on the continent will be immunized over the next three years or so. But even though some richer countries are engaged in their vaccination campaigns, only a handful of countries in Africa have started implementing vaccination programs.
“We are grateful to have received the Sputnik V vaccines from the Russian Federation and are very proud to be able to offer them to our AU member states,” said John Nkengasong, director of the AU’s disease control body, in the statement. .
“Bilateral and private sector partnerships like these are critical to our efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic,” Nkengasong added.
The AU earlier said it had secured 270 million doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for delivery this year.
The vaccine team said on Friday that all 270 million doses had been taken “by the first award phase deadline”.
Russia has marketed the Sputnik V vaccine worldwide. It has entered into manufacturing agreements with companies in India, South Korea and Brazil and has promised to supply doses to countries including Venezuela and Hungary.
The offer to the AU, if delivered in full, is one of the largest foreign supply deals to date.
While Moscow is making such offers to highlight its role in fighting the pandemic, the export of the vaccine has raised concerns in Russia, where authorities have struggled to put in place a nationwide vaccination strategy.
In Africa, Algeria already uses the Sputnik V vaccine. After Guinea first received several dozen shots, he is now in talks with about 400,000 doses, a health ministry official said Thursday.
South Africa’s Ministry of Health said this week that the manufacturers of Sputnik V had submitted documentation to the local medicine regulator for registration.
(Additional reporting by Polina Ivanova in Moscow; edited by Gareth Jones)