As announced by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian at the African Union-EU ministerial meeting, France is delivering 398,970 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Rwanda today as part of a donation through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) initiative and the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) mechanism.
This action reflects the priority given by the President since the start of the pandemic to ensuring that Africa has fair access to vaccines. In addition to donating doses, France is engaged in supporting local vaccine production. The French Development Agency is playing a major role in expanding the largest African vaccine production facility in South Africa. France is contributing to the platform supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) which will make it possible to transfer mRNA vaccine technology to the African continent.
France remains determined to step up vaccination numbers at the global level and plans to donate 120 million doses by mid-2022. It will continue to rally the international community in support of countries that have been hard hit by the pandemic.