Coronavirus

TikTok Donates $10 Million To Fight COVID-19 In Africa

The funds will be used to distribute COVID-19 vaccines in Africa once one is tested and approved.

A resident of the Alexandra township gets tested for COVID-19 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, April 29, 2020
AP / Jerome Delay
SMS

Social media platform TikTok has pledged to give $10 million to fight COVID-19 in Africa. And the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match the donation through a preexisting matching fund.

Vaccine alliance Gavi made the announcement Wednesday. 

Gavi's CEO said, “Working with global innovators such as TikTok lies at the heart of Gavi’s public-private partnership model. The results we’ve achieved over the past two decades have only been possible thanks to the unique combination of expertise from our global public sector partners and the business acumen, creativity and entrepreneurship of the private sector."

The vaccine alliance — a partnership that includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank and others —  says the funds will be used to distribute COVID-19 vaccines in Africa once one is tested and approved.  The World Health Organization has warned Africa could get 10 million severe virus cases in the next six months. 

Contains footage from CNN.