Africa needs first and second jabs more than rich nations need a third, AU says
Africa CDC head John Nkengasong says such programmes in the West make it hard for Africa to meet its target for vaccinating 60%-70% of people
09 September 2021 - 17:12
byTim Cocks
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Rich nations would do better to send vaccines to Africa to help fight the global Covid-19 pandemic rather than hoarding them for third-dose booster shots that scientific evidence does not back, the AU’s top health official said on Thursday.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) director John Nkengasong told a news conference he was baffled that some rich countries were disregarding World Health Organisation (WHO) advice to hold off on administering booster shots until more people were fully vaccinated worldwide.
“The problem we have with the third doses is: we have not seen enough science behind them,” he said. “It is really confusing to me as to why we are moving towards a vast [administration] ... of the booster dose.”
Wealthy countries such as Germany, France and Israel are planning to administer third shots, over concerns that immunity from the standard two-shot regimen is waning.
“We do not know at what point immunity drops to a level at which it stops offering [protection]," Nkengasong said. “Without [that science], you'll surely be gambling.”
The global programme providing Covid-19 vaccines to poor countries is on course to fall nearly 30% short of its previous goal of 2-billion shots in 2021, the international organisations running it said on Wednesday.
The Covax programme also urged rich countries that had met their domestic needs to forfeit volumes rather than administer third shots.
Nkengasong said such programmes in the West would make it hard for Africa to meet its target for vaccinating 60%-70% of people, for which it needed at least 1.6-billion doses.
Currently only 3% of the continent is vaccinated, he said, while 145.4-million vaccine doses had been procured across the continent, of which three quarters had been administered.
In the meantime, the coronavirus continued to evolve, as it coursed though unvaccinated populations, he said: “Today it's the Delta variant, tomorrow we just don't know which variant will be out there.”
Africa has recorded 7.9-million cases, of which 201,000 have been fatal, he said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Africa needs first and second jabs more than rich nations need a third, AU says
Africa CDC head John Nkengasong says such programmes in the West make it hard for Africa to meet its target for vaccinating 60%-70% of people
Rich nations would do better to send vaccines to Africa to help fight the global Covid-19 pandemic rather than hoarding them for third-dose booster shots that scientific evidence does not back, the AU’s top health official said on Thursday.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) director John Nkengasong told a news conference he was baffled that some rich countries were disregarding World Health Organisation (WHO) advice to hold off on administering booster shots until more people were fully vaccinated worldwide.
“The problem we have with the third doses is: we have not seen enough science behind them,” he said. “It is really confusing to me as to why we are moving towards a vast [administration] ... of the booster dose.”
Wealthy countries such as Germany, France and Israel are planning to administer third shots, over concerns that immunity from the standard two-shot regimen is waning.
“We do not know at what point immunity drops to a level at which it stops offering [protection]," Nkengasong said. “Without [that science], you'll surely be gambling.”
The global programme providing Covid-19 vaccines to poor countries is on course to fall nearly 30% short of its previous goal of 2-billion shots in 2021, the international organisations running it said on Wednesday.
The Covax programme also urged rich countries that had met their domestic needs to forfeit volumes rather than administer third shots.
Nkengasong said such programmes in the West would make it hard for Africa to meet its target for vaccinating 60%-70% of people, for which it needed at least 1.6-billion doses.
Currently only 3% of the continent is vaccinated, he said, while 145.4-million vaccine doses had been procured across the continent, of which three quarters had been administered.
In the meantime, the coronavirus continued to evolve, as it coursed though unvaccinated populations, he said: “Today it's the Delta variant, tomorrow we just don't know which variant will be out there.”
Africa has recorded 7.9-million cases, of which 201,000 have been fatal, he said.
Reuters
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