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On
Friday, 6 April 2001 in Mozambique, the very first vaccines
provided by GAVI and the Vaccine Fund were administered to
children in Boane, a town just south of the capital, Maputo.
Attending the first delivery were Co-Chair and CEO of the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation William Gates, Sr., Mozambican
Minister of Health Dr Francisco Songane and UNICEF Executive
Director Carol Bellamy. With an estimated value of US $1.5
million, the total vaccine delivery for 2001 consists of 1.3
million doses of DPT-hepB (a combination vaccine against diphtheria,
pertussis, tetanus and hepatitis B). The vaccine is first
being provided to infants as part of a pilot programme in
the district of Boane, in preparation of the national rollout
of the new vaccine in July of this year. The Government is
also receiving auto-disable syringes and safety boxes for
their disposal, as well as funding to strengthen immunization
services.
Mozambique was the first country to receive
vaccines from GAVI and the Vaccine Fund; 15 more countries
that have been approved for new and under-used vaccines will
be receiving their vaccine deliveries over the coming months.
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