African Union Tells Members It Has 15 Million Vaccines From U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- The African Union and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have told health ministers on the continent that they have 15 million Covid-19 vaccines donated by the U.S. that are ready for distribution.

The shipment, which will be distributed by the vaccine sharing initiative Covax, consist of 5 million single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines and 10 million Pfizer Inc. shots, of which recipients need two, the organizations said in a July 5 communication to member states seen by Bloomberg. The allocation to each country will be communicated by the end of next week.

The doses are part of the 80 million U.S. President said last month his country will share from its existing supplies. The donations come after protests by poor nations in Africa and elsewhere that while vaccination campaigns are advanced in developed countries they have little access to the shots. While the U.S. and the U.K. have fully vaccinated about half of their populations only 1.1% of Africa's 1.2 billion people are vaccinated.

More doses may follow from the U.S., the organizations told the ministers.

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