This archive report was first published on 3 May 2021.
Published on May 3, 2021, a CNN report highlighted the dire situation of coronavirus vaccination rollout across Africa, where countries are struggling to catch up due to delays in vaccine supply.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), low-income countries have received only 0.2% of the total vaccine doses administered worldwide. Dr. Phionah Atuhebwe, the Vaccines Introduction Medical Officer at the WHO, described the situation as 'heartbreaking.'
'It is very heartbreaking to see a young 19-year-old child from the global north get vaccinated while a frontline health worker in Africa, working inside a Covid-19 treatment centre, is not able to access this vaccine. It’s quite heartbreaking,' Dr. Atuhebwe said.
The WHO emphasizes the importance of achieving herd immunity in every country to prevent future outbreaks. Dr. Atuhebwe stressed that 'no one is safe until everyone is safe,' and that priority groups in Africa need to be vaccinated.
However, vaccine skepticism and the pauses in distribution of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have further exacerbated the issue. The African Union and WHO are calling for patents on Covid-19 vaccines to be waived and for indigenous production to be ramped up, as the continent imports 99% of its vaccines.
Dr. Atuhebwe noted that even with donor funding and government commitments, there are still no vaccines available in many African countries. 'Right now, even with the donor funding, even when governments have committed to buy these vaccines, there are no vaccines,' she said.
