The Diplomat
Spain has already made 50 million vaccines available to the multilateral mechanism of COVAX, the public-private alliance that guarantees equitable access to vaccines against Covid-19, of which 190 countries are members, according to a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The note underlines that, through these donations, Spain “shows its commitment to this mechanism, one of the pillars of the Accelerator Initiative for Access to Tools against Covid-19 (ACT-A)”.
Spain is among the top five countries in the world in terms of donations through COVAX and the second largest donor in Latin America. Of the 50 million doses donated, 22 million have been allocated to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 16 million to sub-Saharan Africa and 7.5 million to the Southern Neighbourhood.
Specifically, on Friday, Spain delivered a new batch of vaccines to Colombia in the presence of the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela Rodríguez, and the President of the Republic of Colombia, Iván Duque.
Colombia will also soon receive 6,488,820 doses of Pfizer vaccines in a staggered delivery, bringing the total number of vaccines donated by Spain to 7,546,420 doses, making it the leading donor of vaccines to Colombia, followed by the United States, with six million to date.
In addition, 244,800 Johnson & Johnson single doses were delivered to Mauritania and 381,600 to Syria. In the first case, this is Spain’s fifth donation to this “strategic” country in relations that “strengthens” the link and is a “priority” for development cooperation.
The donation to Syria, according to the Ministry, is an outstanding example of Spain’s commitment to global health and, specifically, to the Syrian people who are going through a serious humanitarian situation, and continues the solidarity with humanitarian contexts that our country demonstrated with the recent donation of vaccines to Afghan refugees in Iran.
Likewise, on Monday 31 January, 302,400 doses were delivered to Senegal, also a priority country for Spanish Cooperation. Further deliveries will be made in the coming weeks.
