The continent has so far fully vaccinated only 6% of its population; 70% of high-income countries have vaccinated more than 40% of their populations
Less than 10 per cent of African countries — only five of 54 — are likely to vaccinate 40 per cent of their populations against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by the end of 2021, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The body had in September 2021 said Africa would be able to vaccinate only 17 per cent of its population against COVID-19 by December due to a shortfall of vaccine doses. But the continent has so far fully vaccinated only 6 per cent of its population (77 million people).
On the contrary, over 70 per cent of high-income countries have already vaccinated more than 40 per cent of their population, the WHO said in a press release.
COVAX, the global vaccination initiative, had earlier announced that it would have to cut planned shipments to Africa by around 150 million doses in 2021.
As many as 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have arrived in Africa in October 2021.Yet, Africa still faces a shortage of 275 million vaccines against the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40 per cent of its people.
The continent also faces a shortage of other crucial commodities such as syringes, which may also further slow the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. The WHO has warned the shortage of syringes threatens to upend efforts to vaccinate Africans against the disease.
UNICEF, the United Nation’s fund for children, has predicted an “imminent shortfall” of up to 2.2 billion of the single-use syringes used to give jabs, WHO Africa said.
Matshidiso Moeti, regional director (Africa), WHO, said:
The looming threat of a vaccine commodities crisis hangs over the continent. Early next year COVID-19 vaccines will start pouring into Africa, but a scarcity of syringes could paralyse progress. Drastic measures must be taken to boost syringe production, fast. Countless African lives depend on it.
Nearly 8.5 million COVID-19 cases and more than 217, 000 deaths have been recorded in Africa as of October 24, 2021. While there has been a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in several African countries, 10 are still in resurgence, including Gabon, Congo, Cameroon and Egypt.
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