PRESS RELEASE

NIAMEY, 2 December 2021 – Nearly one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Niger in the past days. The three shipments included 495,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine donated by the Government of Belgium, 168,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine donated by the Government of the United States of America and 254,400 doses of AstraZeneca procured via the COVAX dose-sharing mechanism.

The vaccine doses arrived at Niamey international airport and were transported to the Directorate of Immunizations in the capital, from where they will be distributed to cold-rooms across the country. These latest arrivals bring the total number of vaccine doses that arrived in Niger since April 2021 to more than three million doses.

By mid-November, more than half a million people in Niger had received at least one dose of vaccination, with more than 457,000 people being fully vaccinated. To date, 6,989 people in Niger have been diagnosed with COVID-19, of which 258 people have died.

Partners who donated vaccines to Niger via COVAX include Belgium, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The COVAX Facility, co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO, together with UNICEF, aims to provide access to quality-assured COVID-19 vaccines, enabling the protection of frontline health care and social workers, as well as other high-risk and vulnerable groups.