Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Greetings to the journalists joining this press conference and to everyone watching online. Today we are looking at how to speed up the vaccine rollout in Africa and tackle barriers such as low vaccine confidence.
I am very pleased to be joined by the Honourable Mr Pierre N’Gou Dimba, the Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage in Cote d’Ivoire. Bonjour et bienvenue Monsieur le Ministre. The Minister will provide insights on how his country significantly increased vaccine uptake and delivery.
Ms Luchen Foster, who is the Director of Health Partnerships at Facebook is tuning in from San Francisco and she will talk about how her organization is responding to COVID-19 disinformation. A huge thanks to Ms Foster for getting up so early in the morning to join us and a very warm welcome.
COVID-19 cases on the African continent will soon pass the 5 million mark and this virus has already claimed 133,000 African lives. In the past seven days, 88,000 cases were reported, an increase of 19% over the previous week. In the past three weeks we’ve seen a sustained increase in cases, with some countries, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Zambia, clearly experiencing a resurgence, and a surge confirmed in South Africa.
As Africa heads towards a sad milestone and a third wave looms, many African lives are at stake. However, with vaccine stocks and shipments drying up, the continent’s vaccination coverage for the first dose remains stuck at around 2% and about 1% in sub-Saharan Africa, while some wealthy nations race past the 60% mark. There is a global push to fully vaccinate 10% of the population in every country by September and to reach this goal, Africa needs an extra 225 million doses.
This will really require a massive effort as our early projections indicate that without a significant boost in the availability of vaccines, only seven African countries will achieve this goal.
However, the US President Biden’s plan to purchase and donate half a billion Pfizer vaccines to 92 low- and lower-middle-income countries and the African Union is a monumental step forward. This comes as we see other countries such as France also making tangible deliveries via COVAX.
So, the tide is starting to turn. We are now seeing wealthy nations begin to turn promises into action. The hope of a shared future world without COVID-19 is starting to shine a little bit more brightly. We know vaccines break the link between cases and deaths, and we need deliveries today, not tomorrow. For many Africans it’s do or die on dose-sharing.
The MasterCard Foundation’s announcement of 1.3 billion dollars to support vaccinations and human capital development in collaboration with the African Union and the Africa CDC is another welcome development. These are the kinds of partnerships needed to bring an end to the pandemic and to build back better.
While an infusion of vaccine doses is a top requirement, African countries must also step-up vaccination efforts. We need to ensure that the vaccines that we have are not wasted because every single dose is precious. Some countries are struggling with a range of challenges from logistics to low confidence in the health benefits of vaccines among the population.
By shifting strategies countries such as Cote d’Ivoire have increased their vaccine uptake. WHO recommends expanding vaccination campaigns outside of major cities, increasing funding for delivery and improving staffing, as well as rolling out measures to improve vaccine confidence among communities.
Last year, WHO, UNICEF and the International Federation of the Red Cross launched the Risk Communication and Community Engagement Collective, as a collaborative partnership using data-driven, community-led action. Analysis by the partnership suggests that vaccine confidence varies widely from a low of 38% in Cameroon to a high of 86% in Guinea. Overall West and Central African countries have the lowest vaccine confidence at around 60%.
To combat misinformation on vaccines, as WHO we’ve worked with partners to set-up the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance. We are on the ground building local capacity to counter dangerous myths and rumours. Since the beginning of the year, through the Viral Facts brand we have produced more than 150 video and social media posts to debunk misinformation. These have been disseminated on almost 60 social media channels across the Region and have had more than 100 million views. Facebook is a key partner in helping to ensure these messages are widely disseminated as you will hear a little later.
So, I’d like to thank you once again for joining us today and I look forward to our conversation. Thank you.