Covid-19 vaccine status in Africa

The distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine differs from other pharmaceutical distributions. It requires insurers of the pharmaceutical industry to collaborate with their clients to ensure safe transit.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says a target of fully vaccinating 10% of all people in Africa by the end of September won’t be achieved unless supplies improve.

Less than 4% of Africa’s population has been fully vaccinated, compared with around 54% in the US and 65% in the UK.

The WHO says African countries have so far received 177 million vaccine doses.

The global Covax vaccine scheme, intended to help poorer countries, has supplied about 37% of these, with the rest acquired through bilateral deals and donations from a variety of sources.

WHO data shows that 14 African countries have so far hit the target of 10% fully vaccinated, but many of the larger countries with the poorest populations are lagging far behind.

“Many of these [more highly vaccinated] countries are in the upper-middle or high-income brackets and have procured vaccines directly from manufacturers,” WHO Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti says.

The WHO has projected that the continent needs a total of about 270 million vaccine doses to reach the target of 10% fully vaccinated by the end of this month.

Some African countries have managed to quickly use up their vaccine supplies, while others have had a slow uptake of jabs. The slow rate of vaccination is caused partly by issues around distributing the vaccines, such as the lack of health infrastructure, funding for medical supplies used during vaccination and staff. But there are fears that vaccine hesitancy and scepticism could be playing a role.

The WHO has called on African nations to push forward with their vaccination programs. It’s also pointed out that although overall case numbers are declining slightly in Africa, in some parts of the continent they are going up.