Category: Medical

NAIROBI, KENYA – The South African pharmaceutical company Aspen has begun production of hundreds of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine for African countries. To speed up the process, the company is getting a large funding boost from the U.S. government.

Speaking during a virtual press briefing Thursday, Mark Marchick, a top executive for the U.S. International Development Financial Corporation, said Aspen would receive about $712 million to produce vaccine for people in Africa.

“Our consortium of development financing institutions would provide a direct loan to Aspen, among other things, to strengthen their balance sheet with long-term financing, support vaccine production and expand their operations with core operations based in South Africa. This loan will help them increase capacity to support Aspen’s effort to produce vaccines for the continent this year and next year,” Marchik said.

Gayle Smith, the U.S. State Department coordinator for the global COVID-19 response, said the investment will help Africa deal with long-term health issues.

“We see this investment as in the short-term a really viable response to the urgent need on the continent for vaccines for COVID and also, importantly, as a long-term investment in the capacity of the continent to increase its own production of this vital goods so there is a greater availability and resilience over time, so it’s a short-term investment with a long-term vision,” Smith said.

It is estimated that the world needs at least 11 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to at least help communities return to normal lives. So far, less than 2% of Africans have received a vaccine.

The need for vaccine has prompted criminals to exploit Africa’s weak regulatory systems to bring in phony and substandard drugs.

In November, officers from South Africa’s customs and crime unit seized 2,400 fake COVID-19 vaccine doses. Zambian and Chinese nationals were arrested.

In January of this year Nigeria’s food and drug administration advised the public to be aware of nefarious players pushing phony vaccines.

Adebayo Alonge, head of RxAll, an organization that fights counterfeit and substandard pharmaceuticals in Africa using artificial intelligence technology, said African governments need systems to efficiently distribute and keep track of the vaccine.

“They can have selected sites across the country where people can go and be vaccinated. People pre-book online or by SMS and make a record of those people who have come and taken the vaccine at those locations,” Alonge said.

Aspen, which is based in the city of Durban, is slated to produce 400 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Distribution will begin in the next few weeks.

Source: Voice of America

The first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Ivory Coast in late February.  By March 1, the country started vaccinating people, making it the first in the world to do so through the COVAX initiative, a program co-led by the World Health Organization; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; and UNICEF.

“The program plays a crucial role,” said Kouacou Epa, an immunization specialist with UNICEF in Ivory Coast. “We know that the vaccines are being used more in the developed countries, but we know the coronavirus is also here in Ivory Coast and the other developing nations.”

Epa continued, “What COVAX is doing is to make sure the vaccines are available in quantity and quality to help countries attain herd immunity, stop the disease and, if possible, go back to the normal lives we knew before.”

So far, Epa told VOA, the country has used the more than 500,000 doses delivered through COVAX. Additionally, it was able to secure more vaccines from other nations, including India and France, bringing the total doses to nearly 730,000.

Slow rollout

The vaccination rollout has not gone without challenges, however. The country’s head of public hygiene, Bi Vroh Joseph Benie, says the average Ivorian went through three stages in their thinking about the vaccine.

“In the beginning, most people didn’t want to take the vaccine because there was some fake news in social media that the vaccine was going to go through an experimental phase on Africans first. For those reasons, people were very reluctant,” Benie told VOA.

“After that, we went through a second phase, where people were a bit hesitant … and the third phase, where people were engaged and want to take the shot when they saw that people who got vaccinated were not showing any major side effects,” he added.

Another hurdle came when many countries suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about possible blood clots.

Both Benie and Epa said that to ensure people would step out of their comfort zone, the country modified its communication strategy to tackle vaccine hesitancy. Campaigners concentrated not only on the urban center of Abidjan but also developed what has been called the “politics of proximity” — meaning they got closer to communities across the West African nation to spread the word.

As of June 9, the Ivory Coast reported over 47,500 COVID-19 cases, with more than 600 deaths, and has vaccinated nearly 607,000 people, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene. 

“We went from one vaccination center at the Palais des Sports arena in the beginning to now more than over 400 centers across the country,” Benie said. “Additionally, we have a dozen mobile units to get closer to the population.”

Mobile vaccination units

At the city hall of Abobo, a northern suburb of Abidjan and one of its 10 communes, people wait in line to get vaccinated. Yao Serge Djezou, the deputy director of communication at the health ministry, is on hand at the ministry-organized event.

“In areas where there aren’t many hospitals, these mobile vaccination units are there to fill the void. It also helps to get closer to the communities,” Djezou said.

While many Ivorians still said they would not get the shot, some, like Abidjan resident Elhaj Gbane Mour, said they would. “I will get vaccinated 100% because it’s a disease that could kill you,” he said. “We saw it on TV, and we saw that it killed a lot people, so everyone should get the shot.”

That’s not the case for Sephora Beugré, a student in Abidjan. “No, no, I will not take the vaccine, because I am afraid that it might be dangerous for (my) health. So I will not do it,” she said. 

Kouadio Jonas N’guessan, also of Abidjan, said, “I don’t know anyone close to me who died from the virus. So I don’t think the coronavirus exists in Cote D’Ivoire.” 

Incentives to get vaccinated

Meanwhile, like many countries, Ivory Coast is offering incentives for people to get the shot — such as free tickets to the recent soccer match between the Ivorian National team and Burkina Faso. 

“We just asked all the fans to get vaccinated. And with their vaccination card, they get to see the match for free. It’s a concept we just started, and people have been responsive,” Djezou told VOA.

Ivorian health officials say that in addition to providing vaccines, they’ll keep testing for the virus, a task that is also key to controlling the pandemic.

They are also ready to receive more shots, including ones that require colder storage temperatures, because they have a cold-chain system ready to handle whatever vaccines come their way.

Source: Voice of America

GENEVA – The U.N. children’s fund (UNICEF) says COVID-19 is having devastating consequences on millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa, as many become orphaned, making them vulnerable to many social ills.

The region is in the throes of a full-blown third wave of COVID-19. Children are often not directly affected by the deadly disease, but they are losing their parents to the pandemic.

Traditionally, when children become orphaned, the burden of looking after them falls on the grandparents. However, UNICEF spokesman James Elder, said older people are among the main victims of COVID-19. As a result, children are often shoveled off to another relative, who likely is living in dire, impoverished circumstances. The added strain and stress puts children at risk of abuse and child labor.

“We have seen the reporting of children reporting on help lines violence against them and the need for support,” said Elder. “Those things come again when children have lost the support mechanism that they previously had, which often comes from being orphaned or an economic situation where a parent simply had to leave to go elsewhere because economic opportunities have dried up due to the pandemic.”

Children who do not go to school are unprotected and open to exploitation, and Elder said COVID-19 has dealt a devastating blow to education. For example, he noted an estimated 9 million children in eastern and southern Africa haven’t returned to schools since they started re-opening

He also said many children are not getting enough to eat because of growing poverty due to pandemic-related lockdowns, and poor nutrition leads to worsening health.

“We know that routine immunization rates and things like malaria access have been slashed, as I say some by 20 percent,” Elder said. “We know that pregnant women have a great deal more difficulty getting to antenatal services. We know pregnant women have died because of that, because of things like lockdown and because health care systems are absolutely stretched…Yes, there have been unnecessary deaths of children.”

UNICEF says governments must prioritize keeping schools open and safe and is urging them to keep children in school while supplying water and sanitation to schools across the continent.

The U.N. children’s agency says it is increasing cash transfers to the most vulnerable and providing psychological support for children and their families. It says it also is working to prevent family separation and to strengthen family and community-based care during this challenging time.

Source: Voice of America

The World Health Organization said Africa is facing a third wave of COVID-19.

WHO said cases have risen for five consecutive weeks, with 474,000 new cases since June 20. The increase indicates a more rapid spread than the continent’s second wave, which started at the beginning of the year, the organization said.

WHO blames “weak observance of public health measures, increased social interaction and movement, as well as the spread of variants” for the new wave. The so-called delta variant, first detected in India, has been reported in 14 countries, WHO said.

A lack of vaccines is also driving the wave. WHO said 18 countries have already exhausted nearly 80% of their supplies, while eight have completely run out.

Only 1% of the African population has been fully vaccinated, WHO said.

“The third wave has come with severity that most countries were not prepared for. So, the third wave is extremely brutal,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said during a weekly online briefing, according to Reuters.

He reiterated the need for rapid access to more vaccines.

Source: Voice of America

The Human Rights Council this morning opened its forty-seventh regular session, hearing from Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Council, and Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who presented an oral update on her annual report as well as a report on the central role of the State in responding to pandemics.

Presenting an update on her annual report, Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the fifteenth anniversary of the Council coincided, sadly, with a time of grave setbacks in human rights. Navigating a clear way out of the complex COVID-19 crisis, and towards an inclusive, green, sustainable and resilient future, would be the work of this generation of world leaders – or their downfall. The Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Human Rights was a blueprint that connected, more closely than ever before, the United Nations pillars of development, peace and security, and human rights. His New Social Contract, underpinned by a New Global Deal of solidarity, which more fairly shared power, resources and opportunities, as well as his United Nations-wide Common Agenda were bold steps that placed unprecedented emphasis on the power of human rights to ensure sound and inclusive development, sustainable peace, and societies grounded in trust. The Office of the High Commissioner’s Surge Initiative, set up in September 2019, had played a key role in upgrading the economic expertise of its field teams at a crucial moment. The High Commissioner spoke about human rights developments in a number of countries.

Turning to her report on the central role of the State in responding to pandemics, the High Commissioner stated that failure to meet human rights obligations undermined the resilience of health systems as well as health emergency preparedness, response and recovery efforts – thus States should step up investment in health and social protection systems. Overall, the pandemic had either disrupted or reversed hard-won progress on achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals. If radical steps were not taken to protect economic, social and cultural rights and support low-income countries, the outlook would remain bleak. Many developing countries were trapped between a debt crisis and a development and human rights crisis; vaccines against COVID-19 must be considered as a global public good.

In the interactive discussion, speakers emphasised that COVID-19 impacted not only the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, but also civil and political rights – the pandemic must not be used as a pretence by governments to create undue restrictions on democracy or commit human rights violations. Vaccines had become a new frontier on the road to equality: developing countries had received only 0.2 per cent of doses of all administered COVID-19 vaccines, taking the world further away from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers called for fair and more equitable global distribution of vaccines, technological transfer and the ramping up of local production. The elimination of the pandemic could only be achieved if the populations of all countries were vaccinated, as speakers agreed that international and regional solidarity was essential. It was important to address the impacts of climate change, keeping mitigation and adaptation as a top priority on the road towards recovery from COVID-19.

Speaking were Paraguay on behalf of a group of countries, Estonia on behalf of a group of countries, Cameroon on behalf of the Group of African States, Mauritius on behalf of a group of countries, Azerbaijan on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, European Union, Indonesia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Côte d’Ivoire on behalf of a group of countries, Denmark on behalf of a group of countries, China on behalf of a group of countries, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt on behalf of the Group of Arab States, China on behalf of a group of countries, Cuba, Switzerland, Ecuador, Germany, Senegal, Indonesia, Libya, Australia, Ecuador, Fiji, Bangladesh, Montenegro, Costa Rica, China, Syria, Brazil, Japan, Bahrain, Armenia, Iraq, Libya, Togo, Chile, India, Republic of Moldova, Mexico, Maldives, Algeria, Iran, United Nations Population Fund, Egypt, United States, and Kenya.

At the beginning of the meeting, Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council, explained that the Bureau had noted that, pending a decision by the General Assembly on the representation of Myanmar in the Human Rights Council, the secretariat would not be in a position to process requests regarding the participation of anyone as part of the delegation of Myanmar in Council meetings, including during this forty-seventh session. After a discussion, the Council postponed the consideration of the report of the Universal Periodic Review of Myanmar and approved the programme of work, with the understanding that the holding of interactive dialogues with Myanmar during this session would be subject to further consideration by the Bureau and the Council.

Speaking on the discussion on Myanmar were Austria on behalf of the European Union, Indonesia, Philippines, Netherlands, France, Germany, Russian Federation, Brazil, Italy, Ukraine, Republic of Korea, Mexico, United Kingdom, Denmark, Czech Republic, China, Venezuela, Japan, and Eritrea.

The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s forty-seventh regular session can be found here.

The Human Rights Council will next meet this afternoon at 3 p.m. to conclude its interactive discussion with the High Commissioner, and then hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea.

Opening Statement by the President of the Council

NAZHAT SHAMEEM KHAN, President of the Human Rights Council, opened the session by welcoming delegates and reminding them of the extraordinary modalities for the session. She explained that the Bureau had noted that, pending a decision by the General Assembly on the representation of Myanmar in the Human Rights Council, the secretariat would not be in a position to process requests regarding the participation of anyone as part of the delegation of Myanmar in Council meetings, including during this forty-seventh session. The President stated that the issue of the holding of interactive dialogues with Myanmar during this session would be subject to further consideration by the Bureau and the Council.

Speakers expressed their concern over the situation in Myanmar in the aftermath of the military coup.  Some speakers stated that there was no legal obligation for the country concerned to take part in the interactive dialogues, in contrast to the Universal Periodic Review process; therefore, the dialogues with Myanmar should go ahead.  Other speakers noted that the involvement of concerned countries was part and parcel of any constructive dialogue, and a fundamental principle of this Council, therefore the dialogues should be postponed if Myanmar was unable to participate.

Speaking in favour of holding the interactive dialogues despite Myanmar’s inability to participate were Austria on behalf of the European Union, Indonesia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, Denmark, Czech Republic and Japan.

Speaking against were Philippines, Russian Federation, China, Venezuela, and Eritrea.  Brazil said it supported any decision taken by the Council as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, and Mexico said it hoped that an acceptable solution was found that all delegations could agree upon.

The Council then postponed the consideration of the report of the Universal Periodic Review of Myanmar at this session and approved the programme of work, with the understanding that the holding of interactive dialogues with Myanmar during this session would be subject to further consideration by the Bureau and the Council. 

Presentation of the Oral Update on the High Commissioner’s Annual Report

MICHELLE BACHELET, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the fifteenth anniversary of the Council coincided, sadly, with a time of grave setbacks in human rights. Extreme poverty, inequalities and injustice were rising. Democratic and civic space was being eroded. Navigating a clear way out of the complex COVID-19 crisis, and towards an inclusive, green, sustainable and resilient future, would be the work of this generation of world leaders – or their downfall.

The Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Human Rights was a blueprint that connected, more closely than ever before, the United Nations pillars of development, peace and security, and human rights. His New Social Contract, underpinned by a New Global Deal of solidarity, which more fairly shared power, resources and opportunities, as well as his United Nations-wide Common Agenda were bold steps that placed unprecedented emphasis on the power of human rights to ensure sound and inclusive development, sustainable peace, and societies grounded in trust. The Call to Action would be an unprecedentedly powerful human rights mainstreaming instrument, particularly at country level. The Office of the High Commissioner’s Surge Initiative, set up in September 2019, had played a key role in upgrading the economic expertise of its field teams at a crucial moment.

Turning to country situations, Ms. Bachelet said that, in Afghanistan, she was alarmed by the sharp increase in violence and civilian harm. She urged all parties to resume the stalled peace talks and to urgently implement a ceasefire to protect civilians.

The situation in Belarus also continued to deteriorate, with severe restrictions on civic space, including the rights to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association; raids against civil society and independent media; and the judicial persecution of human rights activists and journalists.

In both Chad and Mali, she had been deeply concerned by recent non-democratic and unconstitutional changes in government, which inevitably represented a significant challenge to human rights, and which had weakened the institutional protection of democratic freedoms.

Regarding China, it had now been a year since the adoption of the National Security Law in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, on which her Office had expressed serious concerns. It had been closely monitoring its application and the chilling impact it had had on the civic and democratic space, as well as independent media. Separately, she continued to discuss with China modalities for a visit, including meaningful access, to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and hoped this could be achieved this year, particularly as reports of serious human rights violations continued to emerge.

In Colombia, nationwide protests had been ongoing since 28 April, against a background of a pre-existing economic crisis and deep social inequalities aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her Office condemned all forms of violence, called for full respect for the right to peaceful assembly, and encouraged dialogue to resolve the crisis.

In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, Ms. Bachelet was deeply disturbed by continued reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross human rights violations and abuses against civilians by all parties to the conflict, including extrajudicial executions; arbitrary arrests and detentions; sexual violence against children as well as adults; and forced displacement. In many other parts of Ethiopia, alarming incidents of deadly ethnic and inter-communal violence and displacement were linked to increasing polarisation about longstanding grievances.

In Haiti, political turmoil continued, linked in part to disagreement about the organization of a referendum on a new Constitution, and the organization of elections in September. The authorities should guarantee the right to vote under secure conditions.

Mexico had held its largest ever elections earlier this month amid numerous challenges. She was alarmed by the high level of political violence in the electoral context.

In Mozambique, the High Commissioner was alarmed by the growing conflict in the north, with grave abuses of human rights by armed groups including the brutal killing of civilians, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, child abductions and exploitation. Women and girls were reportedly particularly targeted.

In the Russian Federation, the High Commissioner was dismayed by recent measures that further undermined people’s right to express critical views, and their ability to take part in the parliamentary elections scheduled in September. The High Commissioner called on Russia to uphold civil and political rights. She further urged the authorities to end the arbitrary practice of labelling ordinary individuals, journalists, and non-governmental organizations as “extremists”, “foreign agents” or “undesirable organizations”.

In Sri Lanka, she was concerned by further Government measures perceived as targeting Muslims, and by the harassment of Tamils, including in the context of commemoration events for those who died at the end of the war. Noting a continuing series of deaths in police custody and in the context of police encounters with alleged criminal gangs, Ms. Bachelet said a thorough, prompt and independent investigation should be conducted.

Her Office was close to finalising the United Nations Joint Programme on human rights with the Government of the Philippines. She emphasised the importance of protecting and ensuring the full participation of civil society and the independent national human rights institution.

Presentation of the Report of the High Commissioner on the Central Role of the State in Responding to Pandemics

MICHELLE BACHELET, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that as of last week, there had been over 176 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported globally to the World Health Organization, with over 3.8 million deaths. The report highlighted that the central role of the State during pandemics and other health emergencies was to mount a robust health response while upholding human rights. Failure to meet human rights obligations undermined the resilience of health systems as well as health emergency preparedness, response and recovery efforts – thus States should step up investment in health and social protection systems. The economic cost of the pandemic had been catastrophic: around 255 million jobs were estimated to have been lost during 2020, nearly four times the figures of the global economic crisis in 2008. The pandemic may have pushed up to 150 million people into extreme poverty by the beginning of 2021, and global hunger was on the rise with over 130 million people becoming more vulnerable to undernourishment last year.

Overall, the pandemic had either disrupted or reversed hard-won progress on achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals. If radical steps were not taken to protect economic, social and cultural rights and support low-income countries, the outlook would remain bleak. Respecting, protecting and fulfilling economic, social and cultural rights, and prioritising universal health coverage and universal social protection, were required. Many developing countries were trapped between a debt crisis and a development and human rights crisis; vaccines against COVID-19 must be considered as a global public good. The exclusion of women from COVID-19-related policymaking and decision-making, was egregious, leading to a failure to adequately address the gendered social and economic consequences of the pandemic. A human rights economy that upheld dignity and rights of all and promoted sustainable development that left no one behind was needed. States had to step up investment in health and social protection systems, while policies that discriminated against women and marginalised populations and groups had to be repealed, rescinded or amended.

Interactive Discussion

Speakers emphasised that COVID-19 impacted not only the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, but also civil and political rights – the pandemic must not be used as a pretence by governments to create undue restrictions on democracy or commit human rights violations. Vaccines had become a new frontier on the road to equality: developing countries had received only 0.2 per cent of doses of all administered COVID-19 vaccines, taking the world further away from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers called for the fair and more equitable global distribution of vaccines, technological transfer and the ramping up of local production. The elimination of the pandemic could only be achieved if the populations of all countries were vaccinated, said speakers, adding that international and regional solidarity was essential in this regard. It was important to address the impacts of climate change, keeping mitigation and adaptation as a top priority on the road towards recovery from COVID-19.

Speakers agreed that the pandemic had exacerbated existing inequalities and had disproportionately affected persons in vulnerable situations, especially women and children. Freedoms of expression, speech or assembly must not be harmed as a result of the pandemic, with some speakers expressing concern over backsliding in several countries. Other speakers highlighted that the risks faced by healthcare workers made them human rights defenders. Urging international solidarity, speakers said the international community should redouble efforts to achieve economic recovery, notably in developing countries, lest progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 be slowed down. Speakers welcomed the High Commissioner’s recommendation to ensure that the recovery was gender-sensitive, and asked if she could share best practices on the involvement of women and girls in recovery efforts.

Some speakers touted measures taken by their governments to respond to the pandemic, such as granting pardons to prisoners. Stressing that COVID-19 had shown that no nation could succeed alone in the face of a pandemic, speakers spotlighted the G7+ efforts in a global COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which provided vaccine doses to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for distribution through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX). They called on States to continue donating vaccines. High-income earning countries had stockpiled vaccines largely for their populations in ways that undermined universal and equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, some speakers pointed out. And yet, other countries had played a critical role in the development of these vaccines during the trial stage.

Source: UN Human Rights Council

The World Health Organization officially announced Saturday the end of Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak, which was declared in February and claimed 12 lives.

At 16 confirmed cases and seven probable infections, according to WHO figures, the limited size of the flare-up has been credited to experience from the 2013-16 epidemic, which killed more than 11,300 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

“I have the honor of declaring the end of Ebola” in Guinea, WHO official Alfred Ki-Zerbo said at a ceremony in the southeastern Nzerekore region, where the disease surfaced at the end of January.

International rules meant that Guinea had to wait 42 days — twice the virus’s incubation period — without a new case before declaring the epidemic over.

That wait was over Friday, weeks after the last person was declared cured on May 8, a senior health ministry official told AFP.

Health Minister Remy Lamah also declared the outbreak finished “in the name of the head of state,” President Alpha Conde.

Saturday’s event in a health ministry building was attended by around 200 people, including local religious and community leaders.

“We must also thank the communities who pitched in to overcome the disease,” the WHO’s Ki-Zerbo said.

Previous resistance

During last decade’s outbreak, reluctance and outright hostility toward anti-Ebola infection control measures led some people in Guinea’s forested southeast to attack and even kill government employees.

“Community engagement, effective public health measures and the equitable use of vaccines” had this time been key to overcoming Ebola, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

The U.N. body said it had delivered about 24,000 vaccine doses to Guinea and that 11,000 people at high risk had received shots, including more than 2,800 frontline workers.

“We’ve beaten Ebola but let’s remain vigilant” read a banner unfurled at Saturday’s ceremony.

“We must stay alert for a possible resurgence and ensure the expertise in Ebola expands to other health threats such as COVID-19,” WHO Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that genetic sequencing showed links between the previous outbreak and the latest epidemic.

This year’s outbreak could have been caused by “persistent infection in a survivor from the West Africa outbreak” back then, the CDC said, emphasizing “the necessity for strong and ongoing survivor programs,” as well as more research.

Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding. It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, and people who live with or care for patients are most at risk.

Source: Voice of America

GENEVA – African health officials are urgently appealing for vaccines to combat a third wave of COVID-19 surging across the continent.

The World Health Organization reports the number of African COVID-19 cases has exceeded 5 million and the disease has killed 136,000 people.

WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti says cases have been increasing over the past four weeks. She says new cases in the past week have risen by nearly 30% across the continent and deaths have increased by 15%.

She says five countries—South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia, Uganda, and Namibia—account for 76% of new coronavirus infections in Africa.

“Africa is in the midst of a full-blown third wave. The sobering trajectory of surging cases should rouse everyone to urgent action,” said Moeti. “We’ve seen in India and elsewhere how quickly COVID-19 can rebound and overwhelm health systems. Public health measures must be scaled up fast to find, test, isolate and care for patients and to quickly trace and isolate their contacts.”

Moeti says it is urgent that Africa quickly receive more vaccines as the circulation of more contagious variants across the continent is accelerating. She says the Delta variant, the most virulent strain, has been reported in 14 African countries, and the Beta and Alpha variants have been found in more than 25 countries.

She says 12 million people in Africa now are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. She welcomes the receipt of vaccine doses from the WHO COVAX sharing facility and from government donations that has made this possible.

However, she says those 12 million people represent less than 1% of Africa’s 1.3 billion population.

“At the continental level, we are seeing a rise in cases similar to the first wave peak in July 2020 and about 50% of the second wave peak in January 2021. … Africa needs millions more doses here and now to curb the third wave, and best practice approaches will be key to make the most of the available vaccines,” said Moeti.

WHO says Africa needs 200 million vaccine doses by the end of September to inoculate 10% of the population against the coronavirus. The European Union has pledged to donate 100 million doses to low-income countries and the United States has said it would provide 80 million doses to poorer countries.

Source: Voice of America

The World Health Organization said Monday that while the number of new COVID-19 cases has fallen steadily for seven straight weeks, the virus continues to spread and kill people in Africa, a region with little or no access to vaccines and treatments.

Speaking from the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the overall decline in new cases, the longest since the pandemic began, was certainly welcome news. But he said deaths overall were not falling as quickly and declined only slightly last week.

Tedros said the decline in cases also masks the fact that the virus continues to spread and kill in regions such as Africa, which has limited access to vaccines and treatments such as oxygen and diagnostic equipment.

He cited a recent study in the British medical journal The Lancet showing Africa with the highest global mortality rate among critically ill COVID-19 patients, despite it having fewer reported cases than most other regions.

Tedros said that available evidence suggests new variants have substantially increased transmission globally, especially in areas with low vaccination rates. The risks have increased for people who are not protected, which is most of the world’s population, he said. “Right now, the virus is moving faster than the global distribution of vaccines.”

The WHO chief expressed his gratitude to the leaders at the G-7 summit last week, who pledged 870 million doses of vaccine through the WHO-administered global vaccine cooperative, COVAX.

He said while those donations would be a big help, the world needed more vaccines, and faster. Tedros said to end the pandemic, the shared goal must be to vaccinate at least 70% of the world’s population in the next year. That will take 11 billion doses of vaccine, and “the G-7 and G-20 can make this happen.”

Source: Voice of America

14 June 2021 – The President of the World Bank, Mr David Malpass, and his senior management team comprised of Dr Axel van Trotsenburg and Dr Makhtar Diop met with the African Union’s COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) to discuss modalities for a partnership that will accelerate vaccine deployment to Africa.

In a historic COVID-19 vaccine procurement agreement signed on 28 March 2021, the AVATT had previously successfully secured up to 400 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine with the support of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). “In providing a US$2billion guarantee on behalf of the African Union member states, we were able to help put Africa in a strong negotiating position with producers as we negotiated vaccine procurement. It was obvious to us at AVATT that no deal will have been possible without a strong financial backing“ the President of Afreximbank, Prof Benedict Oramah said.

“The Johnson and Johnson doses are a critical step towards the continental goal of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of Africans. Reaching this target is a prerequisite to saving African lives and livelihoods, safely reopening our economies and resuming our economic development agenda.” said Dr John N Nkengasong, Director of the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Member of the AVATT.

With over 41 countries at different stages of finalising their orders for purchasing the vaccine and with vaccination momentum growing, it is essential that countries feel they can get sufficient doses quickly and in an affordable way.

The World Bank’s decision to partner with AVATT on the heels of the US announcement about dose sharing means countries can be assured they can both access and finance the vaccines they need, “ said Mr Strive Masiyiwa, African Union Special Envoy and coordinator of the AVATT.

Under the AVATT structure, AU Member States are allocated vaccines according to the size of their populations for purchase through a pooled procurement mechanism. These vaccines complement the vaccines offered through the COVAX Facility, which has set out to deliver vaccines for up to 30 per cent of participating countries’ populations, to enable the AU Member States to reach the continental target.

His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa of the Republic of South Africa, in his capacity as Chair of the African Union, established the AVATT on 6 November 2020 and mandated it to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for AU Member States and provide the required financing.

The World Bank team and the AVATT team agreed to fast track all administrative procedures in order to ensure vaccines get into countries as early as possible.

Once the vaccines arrive in the Member States, additional efforts will be required to support their deployment. This includes in-country distribution (logistics and storage in line with the cold-chain requirements), securing the required systems, capacities and capabilities for vaccination. It also includes targeted research and campaigns to identify and address vaccine hesitancy through clear and targeted risk communication and community engagement. These activities will require a significant lift by countries; the additional support is going to be critical.

Looking ahead, Ms. Vera Songwe, United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic for Africa (ECA) recalled that the pandemic served to expose vulnerabilities already existing in Africa’s health systems which were well documented in the ECA’s Health and Economic Growth in Africa (HEGA) report in 2019. In conclusion, she noted that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) now provides the platform for building a resilient and inclusive health system, with local production of vaccines, medicines and medical equipment on the continent.

Source: World Bank