Guinea says China will donate 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses

China will donate 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Guinea, the West African nation's foreign minister Ibrahima Khalil Kaba told Reuters on Wednesday. So-called vaccine diplomacy by China and Russia is cultivating goodwill in parts of the world after pharmaceutical companies including U.S.-based Pfizer Inc announced shortfalls in distribution plans. On Monday, China said it was providing vaccine aid to 13 countries globally and planned to help a further 38.

China will donate 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Guinea, the West African nation's foreign minister Ibrahima Khalil Kaba told Reuters on Wednesday. China's ambassador in Conakry announced the donation in a meeting on Tuesday, Kaba said. He did not specify which Chinese-developed vaccine would be donated or when the doses would arrive.

While vaccination campaigns are well underway in many wealthy countries, limited early access to vaccines made by Western drugmakers means most African countries have yet to launch inoculation drives. So-called vaccine diplomacy by China and Russia is cultivating goodwill in parts of the world after pharmaceutical companies including U.S.-based Pfizer Inc announced shortfalls in distribution plans.

On Monday, China said it was providing vaccine aid to 13 countries globally and planned to help a further 38. In January, Guinea approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for domestic use, becoming the second African country to do so. Most others are waiting for disbursements from COVAX, a global scheme for lower-income countries co-led by the World Health Organisation.

Guinea has so far recorded over 14,500 COVID-19 cases and 83 deaths.