Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was only 2% of the total approximately 5.7 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine being given to Africa. This phenomenon makes vaccine injustice clearly visible.
“It’s not because African countries don’t have the capacity or experience to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s because they’ve been abandoned by the rest of the world,” Tedros said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday (14/9/2021).
Reported from China Daily, only two African countries have met the 40% vaccination target, the lowest number of any region. It also falls short of the WHO’s goal of vaccinating at least 40% of each country’s population by the end of this year and 70% by the middle of next year.
The director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention John Nkengasong, who attended the news conference, said less than 3.5% of Africans had been vaccinated, well below the official target of 60%.
“This puts people at high risk of disease and death, exposed to a deadly virus that many others around the world enjoy protection from,” Tedros said.
“The longer vaccine inequality continues, the more viruses will continue to circulate and change, the longer the social and economic disruption will continue, and the higher the likelihood that more variants will emerge that make vaccines less effective.”
Last year, WHO and its partners launched COVAX, a global initiative to ensure fair and equitable access to a Covid-19 vaccine. To date, they have shipped more than 260 million doses of the vaccine to 141 countries.
However, COVAX also faces several challenges fueled by manufacturers prioritizing bilateral deals, including many high-income countries that take up most of the global vaccine supply.
WHO, the African Union and COVAX have asked vaccine manufacturers to prioritize the COVAX program. They also urged countries to fulfill dose-sharing promises and facilitate the sharing of vaccine technology and intellectual property.
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