WHO Says Africa Will Be Receiving 25% Fewer Covid 19 Vaccine Doses Than Expected
- Due to a vaccine supply deficit, African nations are projected to fall short of their vaccination objectives
- The World Health Organization's Covax platform has had to cut Covid 19 vaccine deliveries to the African continent by 25%
- A WHO epidemiologist says that Africa will need a delivery of 150 million vaccines monthly to meet vaccine targets
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JOHANNESBURG - Due to supply constraints and export prohibitions, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Covax programme has had to cut Covid 19 vaccine delivery to Africa by 25% this year.
The WHO initially stated that the African continent was expected to recive 470 million Covid 19 vaccine doses this year through the Covax platform.
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According to EWN, Covax was put into place to create a system that will allow for an equitable provision of Covid 19 vaccines. To date, approximately four million vaccines have arrived in Africa through Covax.
WHO epidemiologist Dr Impouma Benido says Africa will need around 150 million vaccines to be delivered a month if there is any hope of meeting the global vaccine target of 70% of the population for each country.
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According to UN News, in addition to export bans, WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti blames the vaccine shortage on well-off countries that continue to stockpile vaccines in large quantities.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says SA must meet the vaccine target to close the economic gap
Briefly News previously reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will need to meet the Covid 19 vaccination target of getting 70% of the country's population vaccinated by December if we are going to close the economic gap.
He added that failing to meet the vaccination target would result in the economic gap widening between countries and would also lead to a global health security threat, according to a report by eNCA.
World leaders had previously pledged to have 70% of the world population vaccinated by next year, Ramaphosa highlighted that the 10% target that was set out in May has still not been reached.
At the summit, Ramaphosa also addressed the issue of access to vaccines between countries. He stated countries that have been able to buy vaccines in bulk have been at a better standing when it comes to getting their populations vaccinated.
Speaking at the same summit, President Joe Biden announced that the United States will procure an additional 500 million Covid 19 vaccines that will go to countries like South Africa that are struggling to secure vaccines for their populations, according to a report by Reuters.
Source: Briefly News
