Germany donates AstraZeneca jabs to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan

Germany has donated nearly 1.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to low-income countries, the government announced on Monday.

Deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer told a news conference in Berlin that as part of Germany's commitment to the UN's COVAX initiative, authorities have begun shipping surplus COVID vaccines, including AstraZeneca, which has so far proved unpopular domestically.

She said the first 1.3 million AstraZeneca doses were being delivered to Sudan (357,600 doses), Ethiopia (271,200 doses), Afghanistan (213,600 doses), Tajikistan (100,800 doses), and Uzbekistan (355,200 doses).

The EU's richest country has so far purchased nearly 17.5 million doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, but it remained unpopular among the population, although both German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel personally chose it in hope of boosting public confidence.

Germany has so far received nearly 78 million doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, 17.5 million doses of AstraZeneca, 12.3 million doses of Moderna, and 4 million doses of Johnson & Johnson.