HARARE,
Zimbabwe
Russian diamond producer Alrosa PJSC will buy and donate the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines to Angola and Zimbabwe to help those nations’ inoculation programs, Chief Executive Officer Sergey Ivanov said.
“We intend to provide
dozens of thousands of vaccines to each of these countries upon their
availability for exports,” Ivanov said Wednesday in an emailed response to
questions. He didn’t specify the amount of vaccines that will be given to the
two African nations.
Alrosa, which has
operations in both southern African countries, will supply the vaccines once
emergency-use authorisation for the Sputnik V vaccine is granted. “Allowing for
time needed to produce the vaccine, we expect first shipments to start from the
second half of March,” Ivanov said.
The Sputnik V vaccine,
once scorned by the West, has now been approved for use in at least 20 countries
and shown to rival U.S. and European Union-produced shots with an efficacy of
92%. Zimbabwean Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa on Tuesday told a press
briefing that in addition to the donation from Russia, talks for purchasing
more doses have begun.
China has donated
200,000 of its Sinopharm vaccines and Mutsvangwa yesterday said the government
bought a further 600,000.
The southern African
nation plans to inoculate two-thirds of its adult population, to which Treasury
has committed $100 million.
Also READ: Russia approves first covid-19 vaccine
“Thank you to both
China and Russia for their donation of Covid-19 vaccines to the people of
Zimbabwe,” President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on his Twitter account. “Your
generosity during this dark time will not be forgotten.”
The coronavirus
pandemic hasn’t altered Alrosa’s perspective on Zimbabwe’s diamond-mining
prospects and the company intends to “accelerate its activities” there, Ivanov
said. Alrosa Zimbabwe, which holds 25 prospecting concessions, expects to
receive another “15 by late February to early March,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment