The Africa Center for Disease Control is reportedly in “advanced stage of discussions” to secure supplies of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine. “We are hopeful the discussion will lead to a favorable pronouncement on the emergency use authorization of Sinopharm’s coronavirus vaccine. This will increase the pool of our recommended vaccines,” said Dr. John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa CDC at a press briefing late last week. 

This is a bit of a surprise. Until now the Africa CDC had focused on purchasing AstraZeneca (AZ) and Johnson & Johnson jabs. However, two weeks ago, the CDC said it dropped AZ from its plan due to ongoing supply constraints from India where the vaccine is manufactured.