WHO: Africa obtain 25% of corona vaccine less than expected

When many abundant countries started booster vaccination programs, more than 3% of residents on the African Continent, already experiencing difficulties in supplying deficient vaccines, were fully vaccinated. COVAX, a global vaccine sharing initiative, announced on Wednesday that it expects to receive about 1.4 billion doses of COVID19 vaccine by the end of this year, unlike the 1.9 billion dose forecast received in June.

A health worker talks to people as they wait to register next to the Transvaco coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine train in East Rand, South Africa, Aug. 30, 2021.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Regional Office Director said Africa will be vaccinated 25% fewer corona vaccines than expected by the end of this year. 

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said at a press conference on Thursday that the United States has delivered three times the amount of vaccines COVAX has supplied to African countries since March. 

COVAX has delivered more than 5 million doses to Africa in the past week, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says as of September 1, US pharmacies have thrown away more than 15 million doses since March. . 

The United States and other wealthy nations are under increasing pressure to donate their excess COVID19 vaccines to poorer countries as the pandemic ravages the world with the emergence of new variants, more contagious of the coronavirus, which causes COVID19. 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, on Wednesday called on rich countries to forgo booster vaccinations for COVID19 for the rest of the year to ensure poorer countries continue to receive them. more access to this vaccine. Tedros had previously asked rich countries not to deliver boosters until September. 

Also on Thursday, Turkey's health minister said the country would soon approve a domestically produced vaccine, which began its final trials in June, for emergency use. grant. Ankara is expected to begin mass production of "Turkovac" in October. 

Italy sends teams to Lampedusa island to vaccinate newly arrived immigrants. Lampedusa is one of the main destinations for African migrants from Libya and Tunisia. About 40,000 migrants from North Africa have arrived in Italy this year, twice as many as in 2020.