WHO hopes to get 10 percent of African people vaccinated by the end of September

Brazzaville, Congo | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) is hoping to get 10 percent of people in Africa vaccinated against the COVID-19 by the end of September, a WHO regional official said on Thursday, calling for enhanced COVID-19 vaccine cooperation.

“We are still hopeful that 10 percent of people in Africa can be vaccinated by the end of September,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti, noting that 117 million doses are due to arrive in the coming month and up to 34 million additional doses will be needed to reach that target. WHO Regional Office for Africa is based in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, total COVID-19 infections in Africa have surpassed 7.6 million, with more than 191,000 deaths, according to the WHO.

Though the COVID-19 third wave appears to have stabilized, the continent is still not out of the woods, as almost 248,000 cases have been reported in the past week, warned Moeti.

“Deaths are rising in eight countries, including in Botswana and Ethiopia. This is a preventable tragedy, if African countries can get fair access to the vaccines,” she said, calling African governments to accelerate the vaccine rollout and vaccine cooperation.

African governments should “ramp up the readiness to utilize those vaccines when they arrive, ensuring that human, material and financial resources are available to get vaccines into the arms of our populations,” she said, urging “countries with supplies to keep sharing doses.”

For Africa, the aim is to vaccinate at least 20 percent of the population by providing up to 600 million doses by the end of 2021, according to WHO.

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