Italy to Donate with 45 M. COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to Africa

The Italian Foreign Ministry Luigi Di Maio announced that Italy will donate 45 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa this year, media agencies reported on Saturday.

Di Maio's statements came during hosting the third Italy-Africa Ministerial Conference that aims to enhance the cooperation between Italy and African nations in various fields including combating COVID-19 and the necessity of providing the continent with vaccines.

The minister highlighted that Italy widely contributed to the crisis of sending vaccines to the whole world by funding the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) with 345 million euros.

It is worthy to mention that French President Emmanuel Macron previously pledged to send 120 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the poor countries, last month.

Macron’s statements came during a live video streamed at Global Citizen Live on Saturday, saying: “France pledges to double the number of doses it is giving.”

Regarding France’s pledge of sending vaccine doses to poor and developing countries, the French President said, “We will pass from 60 million to 120 million doses offered.”