- Demand for COVID injections is declining in Africa as supply grows
- Countries are turning to mobile campaigns to increase absorption
- Africa, with an average age of 20, did better in the pandemic
- Experts warn that new options may emerge on the continent
DAKAR / ACRA, May 18 (Reuters) – The Mamprobi clinic in Accra is noisy as children climb over their mothers while waiting to receive their measles vaccines. Outside, the area reserved for COVID-19 photos is empty. A health worker leans back in his chair and rolls over a tablet.
A woman who is waiting to be inoculated on her daughter is fully aware of the dangers of measles: fever, rash, vision risk. But COVID-19? She has never heard of a single case.
The notion that COVID-19 does not pose a significant threat is common in the Ghanaian capital and elsewhere in Africa, where the youth population has suffered some of the victims who have received vaccines in places such as Europe and America where the disease has affected . adult populations.
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“I mean, Ghana has been spared so far by doing exactly what we do,” said Nana Quaku Ado, a 28-year-old construction worker in Accra. “I’ve heard people say it’s common sense (to get vaccinated), but what about all the other countries that have taken it and are still putting people in isolation.”
Only 17% of Africa’s 1.3 billion people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 – over 70% in some countries – in part because richer nations piled up supplies last year, when global demand was highest, unfortunately. African nations desperate for international supplies.
However, now that the doses are finally taking effect on the continent, inoculation levels are declining. The number of injections dropped by 35% in March, according to the World Health Organization, erasing the 23% increase seen in February. Now people are less afraid. Disinformation about vaccines is spreading.
“If we had received vaccines earlier, this would not have happened so often,” said Christina Odei, head of the COVID-19 team at Mamprobi Clinic, on poor absorption in Accra. “Initially, everyone really wanted it, but we didn’t have vaccines.”
This worries public health experts, who say leaving such a large population unvaccinated increases the risk of new variants on the continent before spreading to regions such as Europe, just as governments there abandon mask mandates and travel restrictions.
As a sign of possible dangers, the cases of two sub-variants of Omicron have become more frequent in recent weeks in South Africa, the most severely affected country on the continent, prompting officials there to warn of a fifth wave of infections.
To increase absorption, countries are focusing on mobile vaccination devices where teams visit communities and offer doses on site.
However, many African countries cannot afford the vehicles, fuel, refrigerators and salaries needed for a national campaign, according to more than a dozen health workers, workers and experts in several countries. Meanwhile, donor funding is arriving slowly, they said.
Rahab Mvaniki, African coordinator of the People’s Alliance for Vaccine Advocacy Group, said it was a “big request” for Africans to prioritize receiving COVID-19 vaccines to help protect others around the world when the percentage of Infection at home is low.
“A lot of people say you didn’t help us.” They feel that the West has never supported them, “she added, stressing that Africans still need to be vaccinated to protect themselves and others from new options.
ACHIEVEMENT
Many African countries have long been aware of deadly diseases. Millions of people get tuberculosis every year. Malaria kills hundreds of thousands a year, mostly children under the age of five. Ebola occurs periodically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
West Africa is facing its worst food crisis in history, caused by conflict, drought and the impact of the war in Ukraine on food prices.
For many people, COVID-19, which carries a much higher risk of serious illness and death for the elderly, is not the most pressing concern. The average age in Africa is 20, the lowest of all regions, and about half of 43 in Europe and 39 in North America, according to an analysis by the UN’s Pew Research Center.
“Let me ask you a question,” said Maule, a businessman from Accra. “Is Kovid the biggest problem in Ghana right now?” Do you think this is a bigger problem than inflation, the way people suffer from fuel?
Suleiman Jaloh, a medical worker, vaccinates a driver from the Bundung garage during a mobile vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in Banjul, Gambia, 11 May 2022. REUTERS / Ngouda Dione
Read more
The continent now has too many doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination sites are empty; millions of unused vials are piling up, and one of the first manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa is still awaiting order. Read more
At the Mamprobi clinic, health workers in bright yellow vests resorted to proactive measures.
They walk through the bustling market stalls and shops in the area, one with a cool box slung over his shoulder containing COVID-19 vaccines, asking cautious shoppers if they want an injection.
After an hour of work in the scorching sun, the team administered only four doses.
NO MONEY, NO JUNGLE
To increase absorption, countries including Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Kenya are focusing on mobile vaccine campaigns that visit communities. But finances are stretched.
Misinformation is difficult to uncover on a continent where major pharmaceutical companies have in the past conducted questionable clinical trials leading to deaths. Health workers say they need funds to counter false rumors.
According to the World Bank, Ghana, one of Africa’s most developed economies and applauded for its early jump in inoculation, is short of $ 30 million in funding for another campaign. Irregular power supply threatens the refrigeration chain of vaccines. Doses are running out.
“We no longer have a problem with the number of vaccines. The only problem is with the absorption and the money to deliver these vaccines to the people, “said Joseph Dvomor Ankra, who manages the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.
According to the World Bank of Niger, where only 6% of the population is fully vaccinated, there are not enough cold stores for vaccines in vast rural areas or motorcycles to distribute them.
There were some successes; Ethiopia has vaccinated 15 million people nationally since mid-February, for example.
Still, absorption is “terribly low” in the small Gambian state, said Mustafa Bitaye, director of health services.
The African Union wants the Gambia to accept more than 200,000 doses, but the country is still working with an old batch and does not need more, Bitai said.
In Zambia, where coverage is 11%, employees are planning information campaigns, but are worried that they will not be able to cover the cost of feeding doctors working away from home or paying for their transport.
In Sierra Leone, where 14% of the population is fully vaccinated, radio stations sometimes refuse to broadcast government vaccination messages due to unpaid invoices, said Solomon Jamirou, the country’s spokesman for COVID-19.
The World Bank’s Vaccine Purchase Fund has sent $ 3.6 billion to sub-Saharan Africa. Of these, only $ 520 million was spent. Amit Dar, the bank’s human development director for East and South Africa, said outdated health systems have struggled to absorb the funding.
Health experts say more funding for logistics and training was needed at the start of the pandemic.
“The fact that we didn’t invest heavily a year or 18 months ago is a big part of what we see now,” said Emily Yanoch, senior director of the Care USA help group. These are the consequences of previous failures.
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Report by Edward McAllister in Dakar and Cooper Invin in Accra; Additional reports by Jennifer Rigby and Josephine Mason in London; Edited by Alexandra Zavis and Pravin Char
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