(20 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris – 20 June 2024
1. French President Emmanuel Macron walking to lectern
2. Mid of audience
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
"Africa produces only two percent of the vaccines it uses and the goal that we have set is that by 2040 the production is increased to reach sixty percent. France and Europe have supported this ambition since 2021 with 1.3 billion euros (allocated) and we need to accelerate it."
4. Mid of presenter
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
"France has chosen to inject 100 million dollars into this mechanism and Europe ensures three quarters of this financing of 1.2 billion dollars on the side of our partners United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and the Gates Foundation. The AVMA (African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator) will be an essential brick of this global movement to build an African market of the vaccine. It is an African movement and we are happy to accompany it and celebrate its first steps but its strength is that is desired and conceived by the Africans."
6. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye walking to lectern
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Senegalese President:
"More than four years ago COVID has strongly disrupted our health systems and endangered our vaccination programs that were pushed into the background because of the necessity to fight the pandemic. According to the UNICEF report of 2021, 23 millions of children didn’t receive the basic vaccines necessary to their normal development at the height of the pandemic."
8. Wide of screen showing video message from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
9. Wide of screen showing video message from US First Lady Jill Biden
STORYLINE:
French President Emmanuel Macron announced French investment in vaccines for countries on the African continent on Thursday at an event in Paris.
He was joined by several African leaders to kick off a planned $1 billion project to accelerate the rollout of vaccines in Africa, after the coronavirus pandemic exposed gaping inequalities in access to them.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US First Lady Jill Biden sent video messages supporting the initiative.
The launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), which will provide financial incentives to vaccine manufacturers, offered a momentary break for Macron from domestic political concerns as legislative elections loom on June 30 and July 7.
Many African leaders and advocacy groups say Africa was unfairly locked out of access to COVID-19 treatment tools, vaccines and testing equipment — that many richer countries bought up in huge quantities — after the pandemic swept the world starting in 2020.
WHO, advocacy groups and others want to help Africa get better prepared for the next pandemic, which many health experts say is inevitable.
When the coronavirus pandemic began, South Africa was the only country in Africa with any ability to produce vaccines, officials say, and the continent produced a tiny fraction of all vaccines worldwide.
WHO failed in its efforts to help countries agree to a “pandemic treaty” — to improve preparedness and response to pandemics — before its annual meeting last month.
The project was shelved largely over disagreements about sharing of information about pathogens that cause epidemics and the high-tech tools used to fight them.
AP video shot by Nicolas Garriga.
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