US, Africa vow to escalate COVID-19 fight
"They discussed the recently announced whole-of-government effort, the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access (Global VAX), to accelerate global efforts to turn COVID-19 vaccines into vaccinations through expanded vaccine readiness, delivery support, and enhanced coordination," USAID Spokesperson Rebecca Chalif said in a statement.
The United States and Africa have vowed to escalate their fight against COVID-19 with wide distribution of vaccines at a meeting between USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Dr. John Nkengasong, the Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
“They discussed the recently announced whole-of-government effort, the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access (Global VAX), to accelerate global efforts to turn COVID-19 vaccines into vaccinations through expanded vaccine readiness, delivery support, and enhanced coordination,” USAID Spokesperson Rebecca Chalif said in a statement.
Chalif added that Dr. Nkengasong provided his perspective on the country capacity and political will needed to significantly ramp up vaccine access and delivery across the African continent.
“The Administrator and Dr. Nkengasong agreed on the importance of close collaboration between the U.S. government and the Africa CDC in achieving Global VAX goals,” she said.
Africa remains the least vaccinated continent against COVID-19 but also has the least number of cases and deaths.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
