About 70% of African nations have missed the global target of vaccinating at least 10% of their populations for COVID-19 by the end of September, according to the World Health Organization. This was a global goal set in May by the World Health Assembly.
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Across the continent, only about 4% of the population has been fully vaccinated. In contrast, nearly 90% of high-income countries reached this 10% goal.
The African continent has received more than 200 million doses since the beginning of vaccination campaigns, of which about 71% have been administered, said Dr. Richard Mihigo, program area manager for immunization and vaccine development at WHO’s Africa regional office, during a press conference Thursday.
Of the 52 African countries that have received COVID-19 vaccines, half have fully vaccinated only 2% or less of their populations.
"The greed of pharma and the complicity of ‘leaders’ in the Global North must know that we place this missed target squarely at their doorstep. Their collective willful inaction has brought us here," wrote Tian Johnson, the founder of the African Alliance, in an email to Devex.
Many African countries leaned heavily on COVAX, the vaccine distribution program, for donated doses. In March, COVAX had its supply severed when the Indian government restricted the export of vaccine doses amid its own domestic crisis — the program was over-reliant on doses from the Serum Institute of India. This left many countries scrambling to obtain doses from elsewhere, largely without success.
“The most striking commonality between the countries that have achieved these targets is their access to a steady vaccine supply.”
— Dr. Richard Mihigo, immunization and vaccine development program manager, WHO AfricaShipments started to increase in July as high-income countries began to donate more doses. In September, there was a tenfold increase in vaccines delivered to Africa as compared to June.
But the pledged doses are still only trickling in and uncertainty around when doses will arrive is a challenge for countries trying to plan their vaccination campaigns.
These “opaque” delivery plans are holding back the vaccination efforts in many African nations, Mihigo said. Many of the pledged doses from high-income countries have also not materialized. Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that of the 1 billion doses promised by high-income countries, fewer than 15% have actually reached African nations.
Countries also recently started receiving Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses through the African Union’s purchase agreement for 400 million doses, which began shipments in August.
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Countries that received vaccine shipments through COVAX are now waiting for the second shot. Some have started mixing vaccines, while others are looking at other means to secure doses.
The 15 African countries that did reach the 10% vaccination goal mostly have relatively small populations and 40% of them are small island nations. Seychelles and Mauritius have fully vaccinated over 60% of their populations. Larger countries that achieved the goal include Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa.
Those that were successful in achieving the 10% vaccination target secured doses from elsewhere, including striking early bilateral deals.
“The most striking commonality between the countries that have achieved these targets is their access to a steady vaccine supply,” Mihigo said.
For example, Pamela Smith-Lawrence, acting director of health services at the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Botswana, said the country engaged directly with vaccine manufacturers and leveraged existing diplomatic relationships to obtain vaccine donations.
And in getting vaccines into arms, Fortunate Bhembe, deputy director of pharmaceutical services at the Ministry of Health in Eswatini, said the country has been able to fully vaccinate about 18% of its population through “strong political will” backed by resources.
The country said it launched a digital system for vaccinations, serviced cold chain equipment before vaccines arrived; made sure backup generators were working; deployed mobile vaccination teams; placed testimonials from survivors of COVID-19 and those that have been vaccinated in the media; and publicly vaccinated politicians and other influential people to increase confidence.
The next global goal on the horizon is for countries to reach 40% by the end of the year, which is also far out of reach. Even with the doses promised to the continent, there is a 100 million dose shortfall in reaching that goal, Mihigo said.
“We need the total number of vaccine [deliveries] received to date to more than double by the end of the year if we are to reach the next target, which will be 40% vaccination of the population,” he said.
Update, Oct. 1, 2021: This article has been updated with comments from Tian Johnson.