The below is attributable to Spokesperson Rebecca Chalif:
Today, Administrator Samantha Power met with Mr. Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman of Econet Global, Special Envoy to the African Union (AU) on COVID-19, and coordinator of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. They were joined by Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Dr. John Nkengasong, the Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and President Biden’s nominee for Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of U.S. Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally.
They discussed how the United States and other key partners can enhance support for COVID-19 response and vaccination efforts across the African continent. They also talked about various means to channel collective attention beyond vaccine supply and dose donations to the expansion of country readiness to deliver vaccines.
USAID’s work with African countries includes critical assistance to help turn vaccines into vaccinations, including helping train health workers to administer vaccines, running local media campaigns to increase vaccine confidence, building capacity to keep vaccines cold, and launching mobile vaccination clinics.