In a statement issued on 24 August, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) says that this new batch will be “followed by all the material necessary to make the administration viable”, including syringes and needles.

The document states that this batch will arrive in the city of São Tomé on 25 August, where it will be delivered by the ambassador of Portugal to the archipelago to the São Tomé health authorities.

According to the MNE, the aid is part of the second phase of the Action Plan in the health response to the Covid-19 pandemic between Portugal and Portuguese-speaking African countries and East-Timor.

“This donation is part of the fulfilment of the political commitment assumed by the Portuguese Government to provide at least 5 percent of its batches of vaccines to the PALOP and East Timor, and is part of the second phase of the Action Plan in the health response to the Covid-19 pandemic between Portugal and the PALOP and East Timor”, the note reads.

This is the second delivery of doses against Covid-19 from Portugal to São Tomé and Príncipe, after Portuguese authorities sent 12,000 vaccines to the archipelago in July.

São Tomé and Príncipe has had 37 deaths associated with the disease and 2,546 infected in the accumulated since the beginning of the pandemic, with 98 currently known active cases.

Since the start of the pandemic, Africa has had more than 7.5 million infections, including more than 189,000 deaths, according to data from continental organizations.