World Health Organisation reports that 83 per cent of people in Africa are yet to receive a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
READ ALSO: Poorer Nations Unable to Use 100 Million Covid Vaccines
The Director-General of the Organisation, Tedros Ghebreyesus disclosed while giving his remarks on Vaccine Equity for Africa.
He stated that this is not only a moral failure but also an epidemiological failure, adding that the poor vaccination rate in the continent is creating the ideal conditions for new COVID-19 variants to emerge.
He, however, said WHO is committed to working with all partners to ensure every country can access vaccines and other tools to protect the health of their populations.
“We can only achieve that goal through genuine cooperation on local vaccine development, production, distribution and uptake, using a diverse range of platforms.
“So we welcome BioNTech’s initiative to increase vaccine production in Africa.
“This innovative, scalable effort will help to meet short-term needs, as well as longer-term projects like BioNTech’s planned malaria vaccine.
“This new effort has involved cooperation with WHO and the new mRNA technology transfer hub we have launched with multiple governments, companies and scientific bodies in South Africa, which I had the opportunity to visit last week,” he said while giving his remarks on Vaccine Equity for Africa on Wednesday.
The WHO chief said that the tools to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control in 2022 are available but stressed that they were being undermined by rampant inequity.
“In many countries with high vaccine coverage, a dangerous narrative has emerged that the pandemic is over.
“In fact, more than half of the world is still struggling with low vaccine coverage and low testing capacity.
Currently, 116 countries are off track for our shared target of vaccinating 70 percent of the population of every country by the middle of this year,” he said.
MTO/Punch
COVID-19: 83% Africans yet to receive single dose vaccine- WHO
Share on Facebook «||»
Share on Twitter «||»
Share on Reddit «||»
Share on LinkedIn
SASSA: beneficiaries yet to receive money.: Delayed Social Grant Payments: Beneficiaries Left Struggling Introduction Despite Postbank’s announcement on Saturday evening that all social grant payments had been deposited into beneficiaries’ accounts,...
UK man becomes first to receive customized cancer vaccine: In the United Kingdom, a man with the name, Graham Booth, who is battling a recurring head and neck cancer has received what physicians called...
Embracing Single Parenthood – Korra Obidi’s Ex-Husband, Justin Dean, Shares Insights on Being a Single Dad: Justin Dean, the ex-husband of popular dancer Korra Obidi, recently opened up about his experience as a single dad during an Instagram interview with Daddy...
Daily Dose of Inspiration: The South African’s Viral YouTube Shorts of the Day: Discover Daily Doses of Inspiration If you’re in search of quick, motivational, and entertaining videos to kickstart your day or elevate your mood, look no...
Innocent Skittles Snack Turns into Cannabis Ordeal for North Carolina Family as Six-Year-Old Consumes 13 Times the Adult Dose: Child’s Near Miss with Cannabis Edible: A Parental Oversight Turns Innocent Snacking into a Health Crisis In a harrowing incident in North Carolina, a six-year-old...
First Covid vaccine for children under 5: Pfizer seeks US approval: If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorizes the two-shot regimen, it will become the first Covid vaccine available to this age group in the...
COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake: Five Arrested For Green Card Racketeering In Bauchi: The Security and Vigilance Community of the COVID-19 Taskforce comprising representatives from all the security agencies operating in the state, consequently, arrested five people for...
Health Canada authorizes Novavax’s Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine: Today, Health Canada authorized Novavax’s Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in adults 18 years of age and older. This is the fifth COVID-19 vaccine...
Coronavirus – Nigeria: U.S. Government’s Initiative for Global Vaccine Access Initiative to Boost COVID-19 Vaccination in Nigeria: On February 23, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Atul Gawande announced that the U.S. government will surge...
Sage Steele Departs ESPN After Settling Lawsuit Over COVID-19 Vaccine Comments: After reaching a legal settlement with ESPN regarding her comments on the network’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Sage Steele, a former co-host of ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” made...