African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) announces the arrival of 108,000 vaccine doses in Ethiopia as part of the first monthly shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

1. AfricanVaccine AcquisitionTrustdelivers108,000 dosesof COVID-19 vaccine toEthiopia
September11,2021
AfricanVaccine AcquisitionTrust(AVAT)announcesthe arrival of 108,000 vaccine dosesinEthiopia
as part of the firstmonthlyshipmentof Johnson&Johnsonvaccines.
AVATispleasedtoannounce the shipmentof 108,000 vaccine dosesof the Johnson& Johnson
single-shotvaccinestoEthiopia.Thisispartof a total of 6.4m vaccine dosestobe shippedtoAfrican
UnionMemberStatesin August2021. The MemberStateswhohave orderedvaccinesthroughAVAT
will continue toreceiveshipmentsforthe nextfollowingmonths.Incollaborationwiththe Africa
Medical SuppliesPlatform(AMSP),UNICEFisprovidinglogistical anddeliveryservicestothe
MemberStates.
These deliveriesare partof the historicCOVID-19vaccine advance procurementagreementsigned
on 28 March 2021 by AVATforthe purchase of 220 milliondosesof the Johnson&Johnsonsingle-
shotCOVID-19 vaccine,withthe potential toorder an additional 180 milliondoses.The agreement
and the start of deliveriesmarkforthe firsttime thatthe AfricanUnionMemberStateshave
collectivelypurchasedvaccinestosafeguardthe healthof the Africanpopulation.Intotal,the 400m
vaccinesacquiredbyAVATare sufficienttoimmunise athirdof the Africanpopulation.
The agreementwithJohnson&Johnsonwasmade possible throughaUSD 2 billionfacilityprovided
by the AfricanExport-ImportBank(Afreximbank),whoare alsothe Financial andTransaction
Advisers,Guarantors,InstalmentPaymentAdvisersandPaymentAgents.The UnitedNations
EconomicCommissionforAfrica(UNECA) providedtechnical supportonthe financingarrangements
and on the alignmentof the AUMinistersof Finance.
The Ministerof Healthof the Federal DemocraticRepublicof EthiopiaLiaTadesse,welcomedthe
arrival of the vaccinesandsaid,“The purchase of these vaccines,will boostournational COVID-19
vaccinationprogramme- inadditiontosupportingthe ongoingrolloutof the COVID”
AVATwasestablishedbythe AfricanCOVID-19Vaccine AcquisitionTaskTeam, setupinNovember
2020 underthe AfricanUnionchairmanshipof HE PresidentCyril Ramaphosa,Presidentof the
Republicof SouthAfrica,aspart of the AfricanUnion’s COVID-19Vaccine DevelopmentandAccess
Strategy,andits goal of vaccinatingatleast60 percentof the Africanpopulationwithsafe and
efficaciousvaccinesagainstCOVID-19.
Thisvaccine acquisitionanddeploymentisalsosupportedbyaninnovativepartnershipbetweenthe
WorldBank and the AU, AfricanVaccine AcquisitionTaskTeamtoexpediteaccesstovaccines
throughoutthe continent.
AboutAVAT
The AfricanVaccine AcquisitionTrust(AVAT) isaspecial purpose vehicle,incorporatedinMauritius.
AVATacts as a centralisedpurchasingagentonbehalf of the AfricanUnion(AU) MemberStates,to
secure the necessaryvaccinesandblendedfinancingresourcesforachievingAfrica’sCOVID-19
vaccinationstrategywhichtargetsvaccinatingaminimumof 60% of Africa’spopulationbasedona
whole-of-Africaapproach.AVATwasestablishedbythe COVID-19AfricanVaccine AcquisitionTask
Team,whichwas setup inNovember2020 by PresidentCyril Ramaphosa, Presidentof the Republic

2. of SouthAfrica,inhiscapacityas Chairpersonof the AfricanUnion(AU),as a supportcomponentto
the COVID-19 ImmunisationStrategythatwasendorsedbythe AUBureau of Headsof State and
GovernmentinAugust2020. AVAT’smainpartnerinstitutionsare the AfricanUnion’sAfricaCentres
for Disease Control andPrevention(AfricaCDC),the AfricanExport-ImportBank(Afreximbank) and
the UnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforAfrica(ECA).
AboutAfricaCDC
AfricaCDC isa specializedtechnical institutionof the AfricanUnionthatstrengthensthe capacity
and capabilityof Africa’spublichealthinstitutionsaswell aspartnershipstodetectandrespond
quicklyandeffectivelytodisease threatsandoutbreaks,basedondata-driveninterventionsand
programmes.Learnmore at: www.africacdc.org
AboutAfreximbank
The AfricanExport-ImportBank(Afreximbank) isaPan-Africanmultilateral financial institutionwith
the mandate of financingandpromotingintra-andextra-Africantrade.Afreximbankwasestablished
inOctober1993 and ownedbyAfricangovernments,the AfricanDevelopmentBankandother
Africanmultilateral financial institutionsaswell asAfricanandnon-Africanpublicandprivate
investors.The Bankwasestablishedundertwoconstitutivedocuments,anAgreementsignedby
memberstates,whichconfersonthe Bankthe status of an international organization,andaCharter
signedbyall Shareholders,whichgovernsitscorporate structure andoperations.Afreximbank
deploys innovativestructurestodeliverfinancingsolutionsthatare supportingthe transformationof
the structure of Africa’strade,acceleratingindustrializationandintra-regional trade,thereby
sustainingeconomicexpansioninAfrica.Atthe endof 2020, the Bank’s total assetsandguarantees
stoodat US$21.5 billionanditsshareholders’fundsamountedtoUS$3.4 billion.The Bankdisbursed
more than US$42 billionbetween2016 and2020. AfreximbankhasratingsassignedbyGCR
(international scale)(A-),Moody’s(Baa1) andFitch(BBB-).The Bank isheadquarteredinCairo,
Egypt.For more information,visit:www.afreximbank.com Follow usonTwitter|Facebook|
LinkedIn|Instagram
AboutECA
Establishedbythe EconomicandSocial Council (ECOSOC) of the UnitedNations(UN) in1958 as one
of the UN’sfive regional commissions,the UnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforAfrica’s(ECA’s)
mandate isto promote the economicandsocial developmentof itsMemberStates,foster
intraregional integrationandpromote internationalcooperationforAfrica’sdevelopment.ECA is
made up of 54 MemberStatesandplaysa dual role asa regional armof the UN and as a key
componentof the Africaninstitutional landscape.Formore information,visit:www.uneca.org
AboutAMSP
The AfricaMedical SuppliesPlatform(AMSP) isanon-profitinitiativelaunchedbythe AfricanUnion
as an immediate,integratedandpractical response tothe Covid-19pandemic.The online platform
was developedunderthe leadershipof the AfricanUnionSpecial Envoy,StriveMasiyiwaand

3. poweredbyJanngoonbehalf of the AfricanUnion’sAfricaCentresforDisease Control and
Prevention(AfricaCDC) andinpartnershipwithAfricanExport-ImportBank(Afreximbank) and
UnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforAfrica(ECA) withthe supportof leadingAfrican&
international Institutions,Foundations&Corporationsaswell asGovernmentsof China,Canada&
France.For more informationvisitwww.amsp.africa
AboutThe World Bank
Since the start of the COVID-19pandemic,the WorldBankGroup has deployedover$157 billionto
fightthe health,economic,andsocial impactsof the pandemic,the fastestandlargestcrisis
response initshistory.The financingishelpingmore than100 countriesstrengthenpandemic
preparedness,protectthe poorandjobs,and jumpstart a climate-friendlyrecovery. The Bankis
alsosupportingover50 low- and middle-income countries,more thanhalf of whichare in Africa,
withthe purchase and deploymentof COVID-19vaccines,andismaking available $20 billionin
financingforthispurpose until the endof 2022.
AboutUNICEF
UNICEF worksinsome of the world’stoughestplaces,toreachthe world’smostdisadvantaged
children.Acrossmore than190 countriesandterritories,we workfor everychild,everywhere,to
builda betterworldforeveryone.Follow UNICEFonTwitter,Facebook,InstagramandYouTube