Liberia Receives Additional 108,000 Doses of J&J Covid-19 Vaccines

This was made possible through the African Union's African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), with support from UNICEF and the WHO and funding from the World Bank. 

The consignment was received by the Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhemina Jallah , Acting Country Manager of World Bank (Liberia) ,Mr. Mark Mulbah , World Health Representative , Dr. Zabulon Yoti along with UN in Liberia  Resident Coordinator, Niels Scott. 

The UN Resident Coordinator noted that so far, more than 80% of the Covid -19 doses administered have gone to people in high-income and upper-middle-income countries. This has led to  leaders of the G7 pledging extra doses for low- and middle-income countries by the end of this year. 

He stated that the US government among others pledged to provide vaccines across the world and we saw this pledge become reality for Liberia when 302,000 J&J doses arrived in Liberia a month ago.

Resident Coordinator Niels Scott highlighted the progress on assuring vaccination takes place based on need and not nationality or wealth - and this latest shipment of 108,000 doses of single dose J&J vaccine puts Liberia even more firmly on path to meets its target of having 40% of the population vaccinated by December and 70% vaccinated by the middle of next year.   

He stressed that the spotlight, of course, is now once again very much on the Government and people of Liberia to make sure these doses are injected into people’s arms. "We are fortunate that that these vaccines today have a long expiry date but nonetheless there is pressure to move forward to meet those targets. The MoH has an excellent track record and should be proud of their capacity to ensure vaccine take-up despite some of the toughest logistical constraints in the region and the UN , with WHO and UNICEF in the forefront, is proud to be supporting the MoH in achieving this", he said.