Ethiopia: as Ethiopia takes the first hits of Covid-19, doctor warns of oxygen shortage and increase in serious cases

The most severe cases of the disease are putting pressure on staff in distress and depleting limited resources, says Natnael Bekuretsion, medical director of an Addis Ababa hospital.

• * Ethiopia secures 2.2 million doses of vaccines through COVAX
• * Fearing shortages, the hospital tries to store oxygen cylinders
• * Healthcare workers, many of them women, first in line for the jab

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia is rolling out its first COVID-19 vaccines among frontline healthcare workers, but the vast country of 110 million people still faces an uphill fight to beat the pandemic, according to a senior doctor in Addis Ababa.

The mass vaccination campaign began on Saturday, exactly one year after a Japanese in the capital became the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the Horn of Africa nation.

Natnael Bekuretsion, the 28-year-old medical director of Eka Kotebe General Hospital, was not among the first group of health workers to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, but said the arrival of the doses was “light at the end of the tunnel.” .

Priority will be given to healthcare professionals, including thousands of mostly female community health workers, followed by those over 65 and those with chronic illnesses.

Ethiopia, which has a population of about 110 million, has received about 2.2 million doses of AstraZeneca through COVAX, a World Health Organization vaccine exchange facility to help developing nations.

As the pandemic hits Ethiopia, with a recent increase in daily deaths, Natnael spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation about the need to remain vigilant and the sacrifices made by healthcare workers.

How do things look on the ground right now?

The number of patients with severe cases is increasing. Currently, almost all the patients that we are admitting are serious, because we do not have room for mild patients.

We advise the latter to stay home, self-quarantine and take precautions not to infect others, not to leave their homes.

We see the trend, we see our admissions. Whenever there are meetings, the number of patients increases after two or three weeks.

The infection rate is now increasing enormously. So we have to ban these gatherings, we have to ban these weddings.

And the state of emergency that was declared a year ago (and lasted until September) should be reapplied now because the trend we are seeing now is so frustrating.

How have things changed in recent months?

In 2020, 70% to 80% of our patients were mild patients. So, we weren’t facing an oxygen shortage back then, but currently, these past two months, the nation has been facing these challenges.

We have tried to accumulate oxygen cylinders in our hospital, but there is a shortage of gaseous oxygen.

No patient has died here from lack of oxygen or lack of machines.

Different hospitals have contacted us and asked if we had beds available in the ICU. These patients are on the waiting list. I don’t know if they survived or not.

Patients now enter the hospital alone and tell us they have COVID-19 and believe they need oxygen. In previous months, they went to nearby clinics and then were transferred here.

But now we can see that the nearby clinics are also filling up and cannot admit them. So these patients are coming to our doors.

It’s frustrating because if it continues like this, it will increase the number of patients who need oxygen and the number of patients who need machines and we will not have the ability to admit them. That is the fear.

About 50 employees were vaccinated at Eka Kotebe General Hospital last weekend. What did it mean to you and your staff?

It was a coincidence that it happened on the same date the first patient was admitted here.

Everyone was excited not only because the vaccine had arrived, but also because of the coincidence and how the past year had passed and that good news had arrived.

It increases our confidence to go to treat more patients, to work even harder.

For the past year, we didn’t know if we could get medicine or if we could get vaccinated. We knew it would come one day, but we didn’t know when.

The day has come and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Encourages us to do more.

Are there doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine among Ethiopians?

Even here in the hospital, no one wanted to be the first.

After two, three, or four people were vaccinated, everyone expected immediate reactions. But after a minute or so, everyone wanted to take the hit.

About 450 health workers will be vaccinated here.

My assumption is that between 60% and 70% of Ethiopians will be willing to get vaccinated.

It will be a difficult road because we currently do not have enough doses. But if we have enough, the program will run smoothly like any other vaccine campaign.

Vaccines should be distributed evenly to all districts, based on their infection rates, of course.

What is your advice to your Ethiopian compatriots?

Be positive – brighter days are coming. Be patient.

And please, please, follow the necessary precautionary measures to protect our fathers, our mothers and our elderly, because they are the vulnerable and they are paying the price.

Therefore, as much as possible, try to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Don’t forget to wear masks.

We have seen the deaths, we have seen the horrible losses that different people have suffered, and they should not go through that.

We will always be there for you, but be there for us.

This interview was shortened and edited for clarity.