• WHO says nearly 8.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 217,000 deaths have been recorded in Africa.
• In the week ending October 24, there were more than 29,300 new cases, a drop of nearly 30 per cent from the previous week.
Image: MERCY MUMO
The World Health Organization has said scarcity of syringes for Covid-19 vaccination could paralyze progress in Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said the looming threat of a vaccine commodities crisis hangs over the continent.
“Early next year, Covid-19 vaccines will start pouring into Africa, but a scarcity of syringes could paralyse progress. Drastic measures must be taken to boost syringe production, fast. Countless African lives depend on it,” said Moeti during a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
Unicef has reported an imminent shortfall of up to 2.2 billion auto-disable syringes for Covid-19 vaccination and routine immunization in 2022. This includes 0.3ml auto-disposable syringes for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination.
According to Unicef, there is no global stockpile of the 0.3ml specialised syringes, which differ from the 0.5ml syringes used for other types of Covid-19 vaccines and routine vaccination.
“The market for 0.3ml auto-disable syringes is tight and extremely competitive. As such, these are in short supply and will remain so through at least the first quarter of next year. Already some African countries, such as Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa, have experienced delays in receiving syringes,” said Unicef.
WHO said just five African countries, less than 10 per cent of Africa’s 54 nations, are projected to hit the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40 per cent of their people, unless efforts to accelerate the pace take off.
This comes as the region grapples to meet rising demand for essential vaccination commodities such as syringes.
“Three African countries, Seychelles, Mauritius and Morocco, have already met the goal that was set in May by the World Health Assembly, the world’s highest health policy-setting body. At the current pace just two more countries, Tunisia and Cape Verde, will also hit the target,” WHO said.
In Kenya, the total confirmed positive cases stand at 252,938, with a positivity rate of 2.0 per cent, while the total Covid-19 related deaths are at 5,266.
As of October 26, a total of 5,084,297 vaccines had so far been administered across the country.
The Ministry of Health says of these, 3,576,875 were partially vaccinated while those fully vaccinated were 1,507,422. The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is currently at 40 per cent and the proportion of adults fully vaccinated is at 5.5 per cent.
The government aims to vaccinate 27,246,033 Kenyans.
Moeti said limited access to crucial commodities such as syringes may slow the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in Africa, and already some African countries, such as Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa, have experienced delays in receiving syringes.
She said the Covax Facility is working to address this threat by securing deals with syringe manufacturers, and through better planning to avoid deliveries outpacing the supply of syringes.
In October around 50 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have arrived in Africa, which is almost double what was shipped in September.
Covax, the global platform that ensures equitable access to vaccines, has delivered almost 90 per cent of the vaccines deployed this month and has accelerated its shipments since July.
However, at the current pace, Africa still faces a 275 million shortfall of Covid-19 vaccines against the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40 per cent of its people.
Africa has fully vaccinated 77 million people, just 6% of its population. In comparison, over 70% of high-income countries have already vaccinated more than 40% of their people.
“In Africa, planning must become much more granular. This way we can spot challenges before they arise and nip any problems in the bud. WHO is supporting African countries in developing, improving and implementing their national vaccine deployment plans and continually refining their Covid-19 vaccine rollouts as they proceed,” Moeti said.
Edited by Henry Makori