Uganda to Buy 18 Million Sinopharm Shots to Lift Vaccination

(Bloomberg) -- Uganda signed a commitment letter to buy 18 million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccines to speed up the pace of Covid-19 inoculation, as supply of donated shots has so far been erratic.

The nation will pay $5.50 per dose through the Covax facility, according Henry Mwebesa, director of general health services at the Health Ministry. The offer is “a cheaper and more reliable option” for the East African country, he said in an emailed statement.

Separately, the nation received a donation of 299,520 AstraZeneca Plc vaccines from the U.K. under a dose-sharing arrangement, the ministry said on Twitter.

Uganda has administered 1.24 million shots in the nation of about 42.7 million people. Total infections have doubled since the end of May to more than 97,000, propelled by the highly contagious delta variant, the ministry said.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.