COVID-19: USA DONATES OVER 500,000 DOSES OF PFIZER VACCINE TO ANGOLA

Luanda - Angola on Tuesday received 586,170 doses of the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19, a donation from the United States government.

This is the second batch of this vaccine that the US government has donated to Angola. Last June, the Southern African country received 100,620 doses, as part of the Covax initiative.

The donation is part of the US government's global efforts, included in the package of 25 million doses of the vaccine for Africa, as part of the fulfilment of the promise of 80 million doses.

To that end, the US government has coordinated with the African Union and CDC Africa on the allocation of the vaccines to each country.

Regarding the offer, the Minister of Health, Silvia Lutucuta, said it was a demonstration of the concern for the administration of the vaccine in all countries, especially those that are not manufacturers and that face challenges in acquisition and access.

According to the government official, this lot is intended to reinforce the immunisation campaign.

"We are mobilising all people aged 18 and over. This batch reinforces our capacity to respond and demonstrates the storage capacity of this vaccine, which requires ultra-frozen temperatures," she explained.

In her turn, the US ambassador to the African country, Nina Maria Fite, said that, as the biggest bilateral donor of medical assistance to Angola, the United States had a long-standing relationship with the Angolan health sector to improve access to and quality of health care.