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Bringing the vaccine to “priority” population sectors will cost $ 5.7 billion, plus 15-20% for administration, syringes and other injection supplies, according to estimates from the WHO African region.
BRAZZAVILLE – The fight to bring the COVID vaccine to the world’s population has often been compared to a race, in which case Africa is hampered by a host of economic, technical and cultural problems.
Of these, funding is predictably the # 1 hurdle for Africa, home to some of the world’s poorest countries.
The Africa Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Matshidiso Moeti, last week identified the goal of vaccinating 3% of Africans by March 2021 and 20% by the end of next year.
Bringing the vaccine to “priority” population sectors will cost 5.7 billion dollars, plus between 15% and 20% for administration, syringes and other injection materials, estimates the WHO African region.
But of the 47 countries in the region, “only about a quarter have adequate plans” for resources and financing, he says.
Low- and middle-income African countries can seek help from COVAX, an international coalition that is negotiating lower prices for vaccines with Big Pharma.
So far, the continent, home to endemic diseases from malaria to HIV, has been relatively spared from COVID-19.
It has registered around 2.2 million cases, of which 52,000 have been fatal, in a population of 1.25 billion.
South Africa, which with 800,000 cases is the most affected country, expects to acquire its first vaccines through COVAX “in the middle of next year,” said the eminent epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim, who also advises the government.
“Even if we could aim to vaccinate roughly 30-40% of the population, or at least the adult population, that would help us a lot in terms of controlling transmission of the virus,” said Shabir Madhi, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
WEATHER HOT, COLD PROBLEM
So far, their manufacturers have announced three vaccines, each with significant differences, as a success after phase III trials.
The first, Pfizer / BioNTech, must be kept refrigerated at -70 degrees Celsius, a task that is costly and burdensome even for rich countries, but especially in Africa.
The second, Moderna, can be stored long-term at -20 C, which is still a big challenge in hot and poor countries.
The third, manufactured by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, can be stored, transported and handled under normal refrigeration conditions of between two and eight degrees Celsius for at least six months.
That is an advantage and, from the point of view of Africa, so is its cost.
AstraZeneca says it will be sold at a cost price of 2.5 euros, or around $ 3, which is much cheaper than its rivals.
The downside is that the trial results give this vaccine 70% effective compared to more than 90% for the other two.
For Madhi, lower effectiveness is not a barrier.
“From a public health perspective, we would save many more lives by introducing a vaccine that is 60% or 70% effective and can be massively spread to a significant percentage of the population than a vaccine that is 90% effective. .% efficacy, which is by no means affordable in terms of vaccinating 50% of the population, “he said.
In a group of volunteers who received an initial half dose followed by a full dose of this third vaccine, the effectiveness jumped to 90%, a finding that is being studied further.
Vaccines vaccines
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa with around 200 million people, has prioritized vaccinating around 44 million people who are considered most vulnerable, including the elderly and those with underlying diseases.
“We are in conversation with all countries and companies, including the United States, China and Pfizer, (that are) developing the vaccines,” said Shuaib Faisal, head of the NPHCDA health authority.
“Some 44 million Nigerians, consisting of the most vulnerable, the elderly and people with underlying ailments, will be the first target when vaccines become available,” Faisal said.
Nigerian scientists are also working to develop local vaccines “that will be cheaper and more suitable for our environment,” he said.
Some African countries are ambivalent about the vaccine, aware of skepticism or fear among their audiences.
Madagascar is one of them.
“We have not yet taken a position on the vaccine,” government spokeswoman Lalatiana Rakotondrazafy Andriatongarivo said late last month.
In South Africa, about a third of the population has reservations about the vaccine, according to Karim.
“If communities are not associated and convinced that the vaccine will protect their health, we will make little progress,” warned WHO’s Moeti.
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