Few countries to meet vaccination target
GEORGE OBULUTSA
Only five African countries will meet the target of fully vaccinating 40% of their populations against Covid-19 unless the pace of inoculations accelerates across the continent, World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The Covid-19 vaccine rollout may be slowed by an “imminent shortfall” of up to 2.2 billion auto-disposable syringes globally needed to administer the jab and routine immunisations barring an increase in their manufacturing, WHO Africa said.
At present there is no global stockpile of the specialised syringes which are in high demand, and they will remain in short supply at least through the first quarter of 2022.
WHO Africa said in a statement that Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa have already experienced delays in receiving syringes.
“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,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa’s director.
So far, the continent has fully vaccinated 77 million people, just 6% of its population. About 50 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have arrived on the continent this month, almost double September’s arrivals, WHO Africa said.
“However, at the current pace, Africa still faces a 275 million shortfall of Covid-19 vaccines against the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40% of its people,” it said.
Shortfall
Africa's struggle to inoculate people against Covid-19 risks being hobbled by a shortage of syringes just as supplies of vaccines flood into the continent.
UNICEF, the United Nation's fund for children, is predicting an "imminent shortfall" of up to 2.2 billion of the single-use syringes used to give jabs, WHO Africa said.
These include auto-disable syringes used to administer Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid vaccine, it said.
The shortage will remain through at least the first quarter of next year, it said in a weekly online briefing.
"Early next year, Covid-19 vaccines will start pouring into Africa, but a scarcity of syringes could paralyse progress," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
"Drastic measures must be taken to boost syringe production, fast." Unless there is a significant acceleration, only five African countries, or below 10 percent, will reach the target of 40% of populations vaccinated by the end of the year, the WHO said.
These countries Seychelles, Mauritius, Morocco, which have already reached this target, as well as Tunisia and Cape Verde together account for just 51 million of the continent's 1.2 billion population -Nampa/Reuters/AFP
Only five African countries will meet the target of fully vaccinating 40% of their populations against Covid-19 unless the pace of inoculations accelerates across the continent, World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The Covid-19 vaccine rollout may be slowed by an “imminent shortfall” of up to 2.2 billion auto-disposable syringes globally needed to administer the jab and routine immunisations barring an increase in their manufacturing, WHO Africa said.
At present there is no global stockpile of the specialised syringes which are in high demand, and they will remain in short supply at least through the first quarter of 2022.
WHO Africa said in a statement that Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa have already experienced delays in receiving syringes.
“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,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa’s director.
So far, the continent has fully vaccinated 77 million people, just 6% of its population. About 50 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have arrived on the continent this month, almost double September’s arrivals, WHO Africa said.
“However, at the current pace, Africa still faces a 275 million shortfall of Covid-19 vaccines against the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40% of its people,” it said.
Shortfall
Africa's struggle to inoculate people against Covid-19 risks being hobbled by a shortage of syringes just as supplies of vaccines flood into the continent.
UNICEF, the United Nation's fund for children, is predicting an "imminent shortfall" of up to 2.2 billion of the single-use syringes used to give jabs, WHO Africa said.
These include auto-disable syringes used to administer Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid vaccine, it said.
The shortage will remain through at least the first quarter of next year, it said in a weekly online briefing.
"Early next year, Covid-19 vaccines will start pouring into Africa, but a scarcity of syringes could paralyse progress," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
"Drastic measures must be taken to boost syringe production, fast." Unless there is a significant acceleration, only five African countries, or below 10 percent, will reach the target of 40% of populations vaccinated by the end of the year, the WHO said.
These countries Seychelles, Mauritius, Morocco, which have already reached this target, as well as Tunisia and Cape Verde together account for just 51 million of the continent's 1.2 billion population -Nampa/Reuters/AFP
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