[ad_1]
John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Image: Reuters
NEWS
The world is at risk of a “moral catastrophe” if Covid-19 vaccines are delayed in Africa as wealthier regions inoculate their entire population, the head of the continent’s disease watchdog said on Thursday.
The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects major vaccination campaigns to begin on the continent in April, its director, John Nkengasong, told reporters.
“It is a long way to go given that this virus is transmitted very fast,” he said, adding that in Africa, “the second wave is here in force.”
The battle is on to get the vaccine for the poorest countries while the richest nations stockpile the vaccine Picture iStock
Cases of the new coronavirus increased by nearly 19% from last week and deaths increased by 26%, according to data from the CDC of Africa. Africa has recorded 2.7 million coronavirus infections and 64,000 deaths as of Thursday, it says.
South Africa, where a new variant of the virus was detected, recorded 82,000 cases last week, he said. “We cannot be late, we need those vaccines and we need them now,” Nkengasong said.
The main obstacles to vaccines starting in Africa are global availability of doses and funding, he said. Rich nations have purchased vaccines in excess of what they need, he said.
“We don’t have to go into a moral crisis, where these things are stored in the developed world and we in Africa are struggling to have them,” Nkengasong said.
The African Union is in talks with the European Union, Canada and drug companies to secure doses, he said, to secure vaccines in addition to what Africa promised the World Health Organization’s Covax program. Covax is a global scheme to deliver Covid-19 vaccines to the poorest countries.
READ: Are Covid-19 Vaccines Safe for People Living with HIV?
“This would easily turn into a moral catastrophe if we don’t come together as one to tackle breakthrough as early as possible in 2021 and meet Africa at the point of need.”
The approval processes for various vaccines are likely to be sped up through a central African Union process, he said.
We can’t be late, we need those shots and we need them now
John Nkengasong, Director of the Centers for Disease Control of Africa
A handful of nations on the continent are more advanced. Morocco said earlier this month that it plans to launch China’s Sinopharm vaccine in a few weeks as soon as its Phase 3 trials finish, while Egypt received its first shipment of Sinopharm vaccines on December 11.
South Africa expects to receive the Covax vaccine by the second quarter of 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday. The Covax alliance said on December 18 that its first deliveries are due in early 2021, without giving a specific date.
African governments must learn the lesson that local vaccine manufacturing and strong testing capacity are critical, Nkengasong said, noting that the continent faced the same scenario of a scramble for vaccines, with Western nations far ahead. , more than a decade ago during the H1N1 swine flu. flu outbreak. – Reuters
|
||||||
 |
