COVID-19 vaccine shipments have ground to “a near halt” in Africa while virus cases have spiked 20% over the last two weeks, the World Health Organization said Thursday, a bleak scenario for the continent on both those critical fronts.
South Africa alone saw a more than 60% rise in new cases last week as the country with the highest coronavirus caseload in Africa continued to face delays in its effort to roll out the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
More than 1 million J&J doses that should have already been put to use remain on hold at a pharmaceuticals plant in South Africa because of contamination slotxo ผ่านเว็บ concerns at a U.S. factory. The head of the Africa CDC said he expects an update in the coming days from US federal regulators on those and other doses of J&J, which he called an essential vaccine for Africa because it's a one-dose shot and doesn't need the ultra- cold storage facilities required by others.
“The threat of a third wave in Africa is real and rising,” WHO Africa director Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said. “Our priority is clear. It's crucial that we swiftly get vaccines into the arms of Africans at high risk of falling seriously ill and dying of COVID-19.
“While many countries outside Africa have now vaccinated their high-priority groups and are able to even consider vaccinating their children, African countries are unable to even follow up with second doses for high-risk groups.”
Moeti repeated Africa's ongoing plea that richer countries that have reached “significant vaccination coverage" now release their remaining doses. Africa has administered vaccine doses to 31 million people out of its population of 1.3 billion. But only 7 million of those have received both doses.
Moeti's plea came hours before President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would share some of its vaccines.
Sub-Saharan Africa has on average administered only one vaccine dose per 100 people, Moeti said, compared to a global average of 23 doses per 100 people. Some higher income countries have even reached 62 doses per 100 people, she added.