China to donate 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Namibia

China will donate 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Namibia, its ambassador to the country said on Thursday.

China will donate 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Namibia, its ambassador to the country said on Thursday. China, aiming to cultivate goodwill through so-called vaccine diplomacy, has already donated vaccines to a number of African nations as they struggle to obtain doses, including Zimbabwe and Congo Republic.

Ambassador Zhang Yiming told Namibia's first lady Monica Geingos during an event at the Chinese embassy, attended by reporters, that Beijing had decided to give priority to 53 developing countries including Namibia to acquire Chinese vaccines. "This fully reflects the high-level bilateral relations between our two countries," he said, adding that the two countries were coordinating closely to deliver the vaccine to Namibia as early as possible.

He declined to say whether the shots would come from Chinese state firm Sinopharm or Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. In November, Namibia approved an upfront payment of 26.4 million Namibian dollars ($1.8 million) to the COVAX coronavirus vaccine distribution mechanism, a programme co-led by the World Health Organisation and meant to support poorer countries in accessing vaccines.

The country is also in discussion with governments and vaccine manufacturers to secure additional vaccine supplies to cover the remaining 40% of the population, Namibia's health minister has said. ($1 = 14.5930 Namibian dollars)