Finland’s first donation of COVID-19 vaccines to Côte d’Ivoire

NordenBladet — The first deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines donated by Finland have been mobilised. The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated to developing countries arrived in Abidjan, Côte d’ Ivoire, on Thursday 4 November. Based on a joint decision by the EU, vaccines are distributed through COVAX, the global mechanism for equitable access to the vaccines.Côte d’Ivoire will receive 98,400 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccines donated by Finland. From now on, Finland will donate vaccines to different parts of the world on a weekly basis. During the autumn, Finland will donate approximately 3.65 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 to lower-income and middle-income countries. In September, the Government decided to donate three million Astra Zeneca and 650,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses. The total value of these vaccines is EUR 10 million. Finland, together with the other EU Member States and the European Commission, is committed to solidarity in action against the pandemic through the EU’s Team Europe package. The aim of the Team Europe collaboration is to donate 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines before the turn of the year to the COVAX vaccine delivery mechanism. Finland emphasises that it is important to direct vaccines via the COVAX AMC (Advanced Market Commitment) mechanism to areas where they are needed most, such as Africa. “Finland considers global vaccine solidarity very important. In order to help the poorest countries and to prevent the global spread of the disease, it is essential to support the availability of vaccines. This will also promote Finland’s health security and the recovery of the world economy,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.Donations do not influence the availability of vaccines in Finland. In the early stages of the pandemic, Finland reserved COVID-19 vaccines from the EU’s package of vaccine procurements in excess of its national needs. The vaccines that Finland will donate will be delivered directly from the international pharmaceutical manufacturers to the countries in question. The distribution of vaccines is coordinated by the global COVAX Facility. It is the most important channel for multilateral cooperation aiming to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines. The COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (COVAX AMC), which is a separate entity under COVAX, supports especially the availability of vaccines in lower-income and middle-income countries. The COVAX Facility is administered by the vaccine alliance GAVI in partnership with the World Health Organization WHO and the World Bank, among others.The EU is one of the main supporters of the COVAX Facility. Finland supports the COVAX AMC mechanism through EU cooperation, that is, Team Europe collaboration, donating vaccines to lower-income and middle-income countries.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi