'Abandoned by the rest of the world': Africa vaccinated around 3% of the population against Covid

Authorities warn of Low vaccination rates against Covid-19 in Africa: about 3.5% of the population is fully immunizedAccording to data released on Tuesday (14).

The balance was announced by the Director of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), John Nkengasong, during a press conference. He remembered that The rate is well below the official 60% target followed by the authorities.

Given the situation, the African Union Special Envoy on Covid-19, Strive Masiyiwa, launched a An appeal to manufacturers to facilitate the sale of vaccinations to the region, which has a level of international donations well below expectations.

“Sharing vaccines is a good thing. But we should not rely on donating vaccines,” Masiyiwa said at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva. We want to buy vaccines..

He noted that the African Union has established an African Fund for the Acquisition of Immunization Agents (Avat), and that manufacturers have a “moral responsibility” to sell the doses to countries in the region.. “These manufacturers know very well that they have never given us proper access [às vacinas]”.

A nurse takes the temperature of people preparing to receive the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in Lagos, Nigeria, August 25, 2021 – Photo: Sunday Alamba/AP

Patent infringement and export restrictions end

Masiyiwa also called on the international community to break patents on immunity said that The most urgent matter now is for countries to lift restrictions on the export of vaccines for their inputs.

According to an assessment by Agence France-Presse, they were managed 9 doses of vaccines per 100 inhabitants in Africa, compared to 118 in the United States and Canada, 104 in Europe, 85 in Asia, 84 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 69 in Oceania, and 54 in the Middle East.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, summed up African countries as “abandoned by the rest of the world”.

The organization, which hopes to vaccinate at least 40% of the continent’s population by the end of the year, once again called on rich countries not to launch campaigns for the third dose of the vaccine, As is already happening in Israel And in France.

The United States, Germany and Sweden have also announced that they will launch a booster dose campaign, but The director of the World Health Organization advocates prioritizing dose distribution in all countries, not just the richest.

A health worker at a makeshift train station as a Covid-19 vaccination center in East Rand, South Africa, August 27, 2021 – Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters