It is a strong signal that the African Union is sending: the continent is not waiting for global charity to obtain its anti-Covid vaccine doses. And intends to supply itself just like the rest of the planet from the major laboratories. 270 million vaccines will be purchased from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, in particular.

But Africa is not giving up on the Covax initiative, launched jointly by the World Health Organization and wealthy countries, in order to promote equitable access to all countries of vaccines developed in the world. Only the African Union fears that the volumes available between February and June through Covax will barely be sufficient to vaccinate healthcare workers.

Direct orders between states

Yet currently, the continent is being hit by a second wave far deadlier than the first, and must move faster. These two channels for accessing vaccines are not the only ones; some countries do not hesitate to order directly.

Thus, Algeria has purchased the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Morocco, for its part, opts for AstraZeneca's product and especially that of the Chinese Sinopharm, part of which will be produced in a Moroccan factory. Senegal, finally, has just announced that it is also in discussions with Sinopharm for the first phase of its vaccination program.

► Also read: Covid-19: what access to a future vaccine for Africa?