The ambassador of China to Uganda, Zhang Lizhong, said his country will donate an additional 700,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Uganda.
Lizhong revealed this during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Uganda Robinah Nabbanja last week.
China has already donated 300,000 doses of covid vaccines to the East African nation. The health ministry has said that it’s expecting 4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in September and October.
The doses will be acquired from Johnson and Johnson, Sinopharm, Moderna and Pfizer. Since the vaccination exercise began, Uganda has brought in 2,799,920 doses of vaccines from AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Moderna.
Uganda's strategy is to vaccinate 22 million people, translating to 49.8% of the population. The first phase will cover people with comorbidities that are 18 years and above, elderly aged 50 and above, health workers, teachers, and security personnel.
In the second phase, anyone 18 years and above will be immunized and, in the third phase, children below 18 will be immunized following recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee.
The prime minister, in a Twitter statement, said she “discussed trade & investment opportunities” with the ambassador. Uganda's exports to China stood at $39.61 million in 2020, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade while Uganda imported goods valued at $1.35 billion from China in the same period.
