China-donated COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Gabon

A batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government arrived at Libreville, the capital of Gabon, on March 12.

The Chinese Ambassador Hu Changchun and Gabonese Prime Minister Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, accompanied by two ministers, welcomed the vaccines at the airport and attended a handover ceremony.

This is the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines that the Gabonese government has received directly from a foreign government.

On behalf of the Gabonese President, government and people, Ossouka Raponda expressed her sincere gratitude to the Chinese government and people. She said that China's prompt and positive response to Gabon's request for vaccines, and the immediate assistance it rendered, fully demonstrates the brotherly friendship between the two countries.

Gabon is full of confidence in the safety and effectiveness of China's vaccine and believes that, with China's support, Gabon will surely defeat the pandemic, and that the two sides' comprehensive cooperative partnership will enjoy a brighter future.

Hu said that COVID-19 is still spreading around the world and the vaccine is a powerful weapon of humankind to defeat it. China took the lead in providing vaccine assistance to Gabon, which is the latest step in implementing the important consensus between the two countries on anti-pandemic cooperation, and demonstrates their profound traditional friendship and high level of mutual political trust.

China has actively followed through on its declaration of making COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, made efforts to increase the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries, and worked to build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future and a global community of health for all, Hu said.