Yesterday, as part of the global COVAX initiative, Tunisia received a third batch of 158,400 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine after receiving 98,400 doses of the same vaccine and 93,600 doses of Pfizer vaccine through the same mechanism.

Another batch of 253,890 doses of Pfizer vaccine is expected by the end of May and additional doses of Astra Zeneca will be available at a later date. This will bring the total number of vaccines provided by the COVAX initiative in the first half of 2021 to more than 602,000 doses.

The COVAX initiative will continue to provide Tunisia with COVID-19 vaccines with the goal of vaccinating 20% of the population.

COVAX is a global facility representing partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) working on the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. It includes 190 countries with population of more than 7 billion people and ensures fair and equal access to COVID-19 vaccines supplied through UNICEF.

From the start, the EU and its Member States (Team Europe) contributed €2.2 billion to this mechanism to ensure WHO-approved vaccine doses in 92 low- and middle-income countries to make COVID-19 vaccines a global public good. Last week, EIB announced the provision of an additional €200 million to scale up access to COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment mechanism.

Read more

Press release

EU Delegation to Tunisia – website and Facebook page