A health worker administers a vaccine during the launch of the South African leg of a global Phase III trial of Sinovac's COVID 19 vaccine for children and adolescents, which took place in Pretoria, South Africa, September 10, 2021. REUTERS Siphiwe Sibeko
Africa has little chance of defeating the COVID 19 epidemic if 70% of its population is vaccinated by the end of 2022, a report released on Monday said that extreme vaccine discrimination is leaving the continent behind.
The discovery of the Omicron variant in southern Africa has heightened claims that low inoculation rates can promote viral mutations, which can then spread to countries where rates are much higher. Only five of Africa's 54 countries are on track to reach the World Health Organisation's goal of fully vaccinating 40% of the population by the end of 2021, according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in a report on COVID 19 in Africa.
One in 15 Africans has been fully vaccinated, against nearly 70% in the G 7 group of richer nations, according to the foundation, set up by the Sudanese telecoms billionaire to promote better governance and economic development in Africa.
From early in the crisis, our Foundation and other African voices have warned that an unvaccinated Africa could become a perfect incubator for variants, according to chair Mo Ibrahim.
He said that the emergence of Omicron reminds us that COVID 19 remains a global threat, and that vaccinating the whole world is the only way forward. We continue to live with extreme vaccine discrimination, and Africa in particular is being left behind. After developed countries secured initial orders from pharmaceutical companies and the global vaccine-sharing programme COVAX got off to a slow start, vaccines have been in short supply in Africa.
The report said that vaccine deliveries to Africa have picked up in recent months, but weak healthcare systems and limited infrastructure are holding back rollouts once they arrive. There has been confusion over the short expiry dates on donated vaccines, which has resulted in the destruction of some. The report said the pandemic exposed the weakness of African civil registration capacities, with only 10% of African deaths officially registered. Weak systems raised the possibility that vaccination rates were even lower than official statistics showed.
The foundation said that threadbare social safety nets must be strengthened to protect the vulnerable - the average spend in Africa on COVID 19 response was 2.4%, less than half the global average.