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The World Health Organization on Thursday urged African countries to improve their ability to vaccinate populations against Covid-19, warning that the continent is still “far from ready” for mass immunization.
With three coronavirus vaccines now showing efficacy rates of 70 percent or more, the UN body called on Africa to “accelerate” preparations for “the largest immunization campaign on the continent.”
So far, the African region is only 33 percent ready to launch Covid-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.
That figure, based on data provided by 40 countries on a set of “readiness criteria,” is well below the desired 80 percent benchmark.
“Planning and preparation will make or break this unprecedented effort,” WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said during a virtual press conference.
The main concerns are the lack of adequate funding plans, monitoring tools and community outreach.
“There are key logistical and financial gaps where international solidarity will be imperative,” Moeti said.
The WHO estimates that implementing a Covid-19 vaccine in priority populations in Africa alone will cost around $ 5.7 billion (4.8 billion euros).
African countries will be partially subsidized by the COVAX Covid-19 global distribution scheme.
The World Bank has also set aside $ 12 billion (€ 10.1 billion) to help developing countries finance their immunization programs.
Moeti said the goal was to vaccinate three percent of Africa’s population by March 2021 and 20 percent by the end of the year.
Africa-based research
Other health experts at the briefing said additional research is needed to develop more suitable vaccines for the continent.
They noted that a promising vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which was tested with a 95 percent success rate in their latest trial, should be kept at -70 degrees Celsius, nearly impossible for most hospitals in Africa.
“We really should be doing some of this vaccine research in the African region,” said Helen Rees, chair of the WHO Africa Immunization Advisory Group.
Change in the percentage of cases registered during 7 days compared to the previous 7 days, for countries that have more than 1,000 cases per day. By Romain ALLIMANT (AFP) So far, only Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, and South Africa have active trials of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Moeti said it was important that the continent not lag behind in global preparations for the Covid-19 vaccination even though coronavirus infections had stalled somewhat.
He noted that Africa has been relatively spared compared to the rest of the world, with more than 2.1 million cases and 50,000 deaths recorded to date.
But some countries are beginning to see increases in localized infections, particularly in South Africa and the Maghreb.
“We are starting to see a rebound and that worries us a lot,” Moeti warned. “The curve is trending up a bit again.”
sch / pma
