This was disclosed in a statement from President Emmanuel Macron’s office. It said that enough jabs had now been purchased through AVAT to enable vaccination of 400 million people in Africa – a third of the continent’s population — by September 2022, at a cost of three billion dollars.“

The vaccines will be allocated and distributed in the framework of the (African Union’s) African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and COVAX,” the partnership for equitable vaccine rollout, it said.

“The (COVID-19) pandemic can only be overcome through intense cooperation,” Macron said in a statement that emphasised “our solid partnership” with the AU.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – who with Macron has strongly attacked unequal access to vaccines, hailed the announcement as a “strong and welcome gesture of human solidarity and political cooperation at a time when the world most need it.”

AVAT is a means of enabling group purchases of vaccines by AU members to help them meet at least 50 percent of their needs.

COVAX aims at helping countries meet the shortfall through donations.