China gives Ethiopia 10M COVID-19 vaccine doses

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - The Chinese government on Monday donated 10 million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Ethiopia.

Signing the handover document were Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse and Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan.

“…Part of the 10 million doses of vaccines will be used especially for Ethiopian women and children,” said Zhao.

The donation, the ambassador said, “demonstrates that China is turning its commitments into visible and tangible outcomes.”

He added that China “will stand firmly with Ethiopia and other African countries to embody the everlasting spirit of China-Africa friendship.”

Speaking after the signing, Lia said the Chinese government has donated 14 million doses of vaccines to Ethiopia so far “to fight the virus, restore the economy and protect people’s health.”

The health minister said 5 million doses of the latest donation will be used to vaccinate mothers, children, and young people.

At the 8th Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Senegal at the World Economic Forum last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would provide 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries.

Ethiopia has so far recorded over 471,000 coronavirus cases and 7,512 deaths, according to official data.

More than 29.4 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 across the Horn of Africa nation of 110 million people.

The active COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia stand at 7,822, according to the Health Ministry.