The blog has previously posted upon vaccine nationalism and how the poorer nations are suffering from shortages of Covid vaccines. Updated reports reveal little has changed. While some politicians in the developed world are boasting that they are inoculating young healthy adults who are at very little risk, in the undeveloped countries, the very vulnerable are being neglected.
“Africa needs vaccines now,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said “Any pause in our vaccination campaigns will lead to lost lives and lost hope.
Only 1% of the 1.3 billion vaccines injected around the world have been administered in Africa – and that comparative percentage has been declining in recent weeks. From Africa to Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean, the same issues have been replicated.
Only 28 million doses have been delivered across Africa so far – that’s less than 2% of the continent’s population – at a time when some wealthier countries have vaccinated well in excess of half their populations.
Africa needed at least 20 million AstraZeneca doses in the next six weeks to give second shots to all those who had received the first dose. In addition, another 200 million doses of approved vaccines are needed to enable the continent to vaccinate 10% of its population by September.
Vaccine inequality exposed by dire situation in world’s poorest nations | Africa | The Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment