The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said it expects at least 20 percent of people of the African continent will get coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, reported Africa News.
“The (vaccination) objective is to reach 20 percent, at least, to cover 20 percent of the population by the end of the year, and I might say that with the latest developments within the Covax facility, there is a very very good prospect that this objective to supply up to 600 million doses by the end of 2021 will definitely be reached,” said Richard Mihigo, WHO Africa immunization coordinator.
Notably, only a few African countries including Morocco, Egypt, Guinea, Mauritius and Seychelles have begun immunizing their people against coronavirus as most of the African countries lack the financial means to purchase the drugs which have largely been scooped up by developed countries.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the African Union has secured an additional 400 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for its member countries. The AU had previously announced that it had secured 270 million vaccine doses.
“An additional 400 million doses of vaccines have been secured from the Serum Institute” of India, Africa CDC director John Nkengasong told a press conference. “If you add 400 million doses to the 270 million doses, I think we are beginning to make very, very good progress.”
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, raised alarm over the spread of the new virus variant that was first detected in South Africa last month. The new COVID-19 strain is thought to be more contagious has cropped up in at least six African countries including Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mayotte, and Zambia, and 24 countries worldwide.
Africa has reported over 3.4 million COVID-19 cases and 87,000 deaths so far, according to the Africa CDC.
