Africa has provided another 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as the continent struggles with a second wave of South African-fed coronaviruses that the World Health Organization says has become the dominant strain on the continent.
The new doses – of the AstraZeneca vaccine – were provided through the Serum Institute of India, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
With the new doses, in addition to the 270 million doses announced earlier this month from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, “I think we are starting to make very good progress,” CDC Africa Director John Nkengasong told reporters.
Part of the African continent is experiencing a strong resurgence of coronavirus infections, with the WHO noticing that 22 countries have continued to see an increase in the number of cases in the last week following the appearance of the new 501Y.V2 variant, which was first identified in Africa. South.
The UN health agency said the variant is now “predominant and offers a record number of cases in South Africa and the subregion” and has also been found in 24 countries outside Africa.
“The variant that was first detected in South Africa has spread rapidly beyond Africa and so what keeps me awake at night now is that it is very likely to circulate in more African countries,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti. WHO Regional Director for Africa. in a statement.
A variant that was initially detected in the United Kingdom and is also more transmissible has been found in The Gambia and Nigeria, Moeti said.
Nkengasong called the spread “very aggressive” and warned that the second wave had not yet reached its peak.
The African mortality rate of 2.5% remains above the global rate of 2.2%, and 14 of the 54 African countries have fatality rates above 3%. The continent has more than 3.4 million confirmed cases of the virus, including more than 87,000 deaths.
The continent of 1.3 billion people is fighting to get enough vaccines to vaccinate 60% of its population to gain immunity to the herd, and Moeti called on African countries to step up testing, isolating contacts, treating patients and preventing contain the outbreak until inoculations can be released.
“Our common goal is to overcome the virus,” he said. “Unfortunately, the journey will be longer, harder and much more expensive, in the absence of consistent commitments from society as a whole to block the infection.”
Officials have repeatedly called on rich countries that have stockpiled vaccines to share them with the developing world.
Africa is expected to receive another 600 million doses through the WHO-led global COVAX initiative, which aims to help low-income countries.
In a separate briefing, WHO’s Richard Mihigo said the first doses should be released “probably by the middle of next month and by March we will certainly see most countries getting vaccinated, targeting high-risk groups”.
He called it a “slow start” but said he expected the process to accelerate in the coming months.
Regarding the 270 million doses announced earlier, “we know very well that some of these doses will not be available soon,” said Mihigo. He did not give details.
He said that, in general, reaching 35% of Africa’s population with COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this year could be a “realistic assumption”.
Mihigo also criticized the overall cost differences for COVID-19 vaccines.
It is “shocking that a rich country can pay less than a struggling country,” he said, noting that higher-income African countries, such as South Africa, are not eligible for donated vaccines. “It is time, indeed, to ask for a fair price for those countries … at least at the same price that rich countries receive.”