Ireland to send over a quarter of a million Covid vaccines to Uganda

Ireland is donating over a quarter of a million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Uganda. 

The announcement was made today by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, and Minister for International Development and Diaspora, Colm Brophy, the latter of whom said that "only by acting together as a global community [can we] each be safe from this awful virus". 

The delivery of vaccines is expected to be completed later this week. 

Speaking on the announcement, Minister Donnelly said the donation represents the next step in Ireland's "continued commitment to vaccine solidarity". 

The donation of 335,000 doses is in addition to one million Covid-19 vaccines Ireland has also committed to donate through a global initiative called COVAX. 

A total of €7million will reportedly be provided to COVAX from the Irish Aid programme throughout this year. 

At time of publication, 129,329 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Uganda with 3,148 deaths.