Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday accused world leaders of falling short in their pledge to share coronavirus vaccines with poorer nations, and their failure risked making the disease endemic, reported Yahoo News.
Some African nations are currently witnessing Covid-19 resurgence as they lag in the global vaccination drive. According to statistics, just 3.18 percent of Africa’s 1.3-billion population is fully inoculated.
“We cannot continue to politicize this situation by making statements that we do not follow through with firm commitments,” said John Nkengasong, head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC.
He said pledges do not put vaccines into peoples’ arms.
The cases are rising at an alarming rate across the African continent. Over 40 countries are experiencing the third wave of infection and six are grappling with their fourth.
In June, the Group of Seven industrialized powers, G7, vowed to provide a billion Covid vaccines with developing nations, up from 130 million promised in February.
But Nkengasong said the doses had yet to materialize.
“We have not seen a billion vaccines,” the Africa CDC head told an online press briefing. “We are not as a continent very keen in any definition of vaccine diplomacy that would mean people make statements in the media that are not backed with reality.”
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged rich nations to give priority to getting first jabs for health workers and vulnerable populations in poorer nations and not on supplying boosters to their people.
It is estimated that Africa will need 1.5 billion vaccine doses to immunize 60 percent of its inhabitants and achieve some level of herd immunity.
The Africa CDC head said the global war against the coronavirus pandemic can only be won if everybody gets vaccinated as soon as possible.
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa has reached 7,973,133 as of Thursday evening.
