Source: Africa needs at least 750M coronavirus vaccine doses | The Herald
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -At least 60 percent of Africa’s 1.2 billion people need to be immunized for a COVID-19 vaccination drive to prove effective, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
“By that count, Africa will need at least 750 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines,” John Nkengasong said in a weekly online news briefing.
He said every person will need two doses – one of the antidote and another for boosting immunity – so the total amount required could be over 1 billion.
Some 5 percent to 7 percent of vaccine doses may be wasted in the process, he added.
Nkengasong said Africa will use a combination of financial sources to buy vaccines, including a $12 billion support package from the World Bank for countries that need assistance.
The African Export-Import Bank and other institutions will also chip in, according to the official.
His remarks came as Africa’s COVID-19 cases crossed 2.3 million (2,304,485) on Thursday, including 54,916 fatalities and over 1.96 million (1,968,447) recoveries. SOURCE – aa.com.tr/en/africa/
COMMENTS
The WHO and other bodies have frequently stated that the use of the innoculant must be widespread for it to be universally effective. There are plans for this to be done at little or no expense to the recipient contries or individuals. If Zimbabwean Ministers continue to make allegations against the nations doing the providing then Zimbabwe is likely to be last in the queue, not only because its name is the last in alphabetical order of countries.