WHO bemoans pace of Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has bemoaned the slow pace of Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination process, saying “fair access to vaccines must be a reality if we are to collectively make a dent on this pandemic”.

The global body suggests further that Africa accounts for less than two per cent of the 690 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered globally so far, stressing that most countries on the continent received vaccines only five weeks ago and in small quantities.

So far, 45 African countries are said to have received the COVID-19 vaccines, with 43 of them having begun vaccinations, while nearly 13 million of the 31.6 million doses delivered so far have been administered.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, made this known during an international media briefing via Zoom, a virtual conference platform, last Thursday.

She also bemoaned the non-uniform pace of the vaccine rollout on the continent, revealing that 93 per cent of the doses administered in Africa so far was in only 10 countries.

Vaccine rollout

She said vaccine rollout preparedness — including training of health workers, prelisting priority groups, and coordination — had helped some countries quickly reach a large proportion of the targeted high-risk population groups such as health workers, adding that the 10 countries that had vaccinated the most had used at least 65 per cent of their supplies.

“Although progress is being made, many African countries have barely moved beyond the starting line. Limited stocks and supply bottlenecks are putting COVID-19 vaccines out of the reach of many people in this region,” the WHO Regional Director for Africa said.

Vaccine rollout in some countries, she said, had been delayed by operational and financial hurdles or logistical difficulties such as reaching remote locations even when the vaccines were delivered.

She said WHO was, therefore, supporting countries to tackle the challenges by reinforcing planning and coordination, advocating more financial resources, as well as setting up effective communications strategies to address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.

The delays, she said, were not only affecting vaccine delivery to priority targets, but also expanding vaccinations to the rest of the population, some of whom had expressed eagerness to receive the doses.

“Africa is already playing COVID-19 vaccination catch-up, and the gap is widening. While we acknowledge the immense burden placed by the global demand for vaccines, inequity can only worsen scarcity,” said Dr Moeti, adding that “more than a billion Africans remain on the margins of this historic march to overcome the pandemic”.

COVID-19 in Africa

Through the COVAX facility, which is a global solidarity platform for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, 16.6 million vaccine doses of mainly AstraZeneca have been delivered to African countries.

So far, there are about 4.3 million COVID-19 cases on the African continent, and 114,000 people have died.

For the past two months, the region has seen a plateau of around 74,000 new cases per week.

Also, in Africa, countries such as Kenya are experiencing a third wave of the pandemic, which is showing an upward trend in 14 other African countries, including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mali, Rwanda and Tunisia.

On hand to answer questions during the press conference were the Director of Population, Ministry of Health, Morocco, Dr Abdelhakim Yahyane; UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mr Mohamed Malick Fall; Director, Regional Emergency Preparedness and Response, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Salam Gueye; and Immunisation and Vaccine Development Programme Coordinator, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Richard Mihigo.

Writer’s email-rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh