Cabo Verde: Country ‘one of first in Africa’ to receive vaccines through COVAX

Cabo Verde is one of the first African countries to receive vaccines against Covid-19 through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access or COVAX global initiative, with ultimately enough for the immunisation of 35% of its population, the United Nations has announced.

“Our country team is proud to report that Cabo Verde has been confirmed as one of the first African countries to receive the first batch [of vaccines] through COVAX,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said on Monday. “In the coming weeks, Cabo Verde will be able to purchase and administer vaccines to some 200,000 people, which represents thirty-five per cent of the population.” 

The announcement is the result of four months of work by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), with the leadership of the resident coordinator of the UN system in Cabo Verde, Ana Patrícia Graça, to support the government in developing a national vaccination plan and be a part of COVAX.

COVAX is a joint initiative of WHO and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, to provide Covid-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries in an effort to provide access to and distribute vaccines worldwide.

Cabo Verde was the first African country to receive economic support from the World Bank to purchase vaccines, with the approval of an additional $5 million (€4.1 million) in funding on 11 February.

“It was the first World Bank-funded operation in Africa to support a Covid-19 immunisation plan and to help purchase and distribute vaccines through COVAX,” a spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said.

The additional funding will be used to buy 400,000 doses of vaccines and personal protective equipment, including masks.

At the beginning of February, Covax planned to distribute around 337 million doses of vaccine to 145 countries, including seven Portuguese-language countries – Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Mozambique and Timor-Leste – that together will have access to around 14 million doses in the first phase of distribution.

Worldwide, the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed at least 2,466,453 lives worldwide, resulting from more than 111 million cases of infection.