Ethiopia, Jan. 18 -- East African Community (EAC) member states are expected to receive some 39 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from the African Union (AU), which has secured a deal to procure 270 million of the same for all member states.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also the AU chairman, Wednesday announced that from the provisional 270 million doses, at least 50 million will be available between April and June 2021.

The order, to be supplied by Pfizer, AstraZeneca (through an independent licensee, Serum Institute of India), and Johnson & Johnson, will be by far the largest on the continent to date. From the deal, Pfizer is supplying the continent with 50 million doses, Johnson & Johnson 120 million while Astr...