The war in Ukraine will not have an immediate effect on coronavirus vaccine supplies to Africa, as Russia has contributed less than 0.5% of the 700-million doses so far imported by the continent, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.
Russia invaded Ukraine a week ago, prompting western nations to impose economic sanctions, close their airspace to Russian aircraft, and halt a wide range of Russian exports. While the sanctions do not apply to medicines and medical supplies, the removal of seven Russian banks from the international payment system Swift will make it difficult to transact with Russian entities and ship exempted products out the country.
“In the short-term, there will be very little impact overall [on the coronavirus vaccine supply] to the region,” said WHO Africa programme area manager Richard Mihigo .
Russia has shipped a fraction of the 300-million doses of Sputnik V it offered the African Union in February 2021. It has so far delivered between 3-million and 3.5-million doses, Mihigo said in an online briefing.
The SA Healthcare Regulatory Authority rejected Sputnik V in October over concerns it might raise the risk of HIV infection, prompting neighbouring Namibia to suspend use of the shot. SA had already by this stage already begun providing shots made by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer-BioNTech.
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