WHO urges resumption of immunization services in Africa amid COVID-19

African governments should establish robust systems to facilitate the resumption of immunization services that had been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said increasing immunization during the pandemic era is key to reducing the death toll from diseases that affect vulnerable groups such as children on the continent.

“COVID-19 has disrupted the provision of essential health services, including routine immunization,” Moeti said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

“This puts people at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases and threatens the progress we have made to date. As we prepare for a COVID-19 vaccine, we must ensure that the life-saving vaccines we already have reach those who need them, ”he added.

Moeti’s comments came in the wake of a virtual WHO meeting affiliated with the Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group for Africa (RITAG) held from 18 to 19 November to discuss the status of immunization on the continent along with preparation for a future COVID-19 vaccine.

WHO statistics indicate that in 2019, immunization coverage in Africa stagnated at 74 percent for the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DPT3) and at 69 percent for the first dose. of the measles vaccine, well below the continent’s target of 90 percent. .

According to the WHO, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated gaps in immunization coverage in 2020, putting millions of children at risk of succumbing to a number of infectious diseases.

He said an additional 1.37 million children in the African region did not receive the tuberculosis vaccine and 1.32 million more children under the age of one lost their first dose of measles vaccine between January and August compared to the same period in 2019.

Also, immunization campaigns covering measles, yellow fever, polio and other infectious diseases have been postponed in at least 15 African countries this year due to the pandemic.

“Collective action to strengthen immunization is needed, now more than ever, as we approach the end of the Decade of Vaccines and COVID-19 limits access to essential health services in Africa,” said Helen Rees. , President of RITAG.

Richard Mihigo, director of the Vaccine Preventable Diseases program at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, said COVID-19 was a wake-up call for governments to increase immunization and protect vulnerable groups from premature deaths.