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As efforts to find a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 are proving increasingly promising, the African continent is “far from ready” to launch what will be its largest immunization campaign ever, he said. United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, stressed the importance of strong planning and preparation for successful COVID-19 vaccinations.
“The biggest push to immunization in African history is around the corner, and African governments must urgently speed up readiness. Planning and preparedness will make or break this unprecedented effort,” he said.
“We need active leadership and engagement from the highest levels of government with solid and comprehensive national coordination plans and systems in place,” added Dr. Moeti.
The call came when a new WHO analysis revealed that preparation of the vaccination program in Africa is overdue.
According to the analysis, based on countries’ self-reporting, the African region has an average 33% readiness score for a COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, which is well below the desired benchmark of 80%. .
WHO, along with Gavi, Vaccine Alliance, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation and other partners, is working to ensure equal access to vaccines in Africa through the COVAX facility, the vaccine pillar of the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools accelerator. . Once the vaccines are authorized and approved, COVAX will work to ensure sufficient doses to provide protection for an initial 20% of the African population, the WHO said.
However, only 49% have identified priority populations for vaccination and have plans in place to reach them, 44% have coordination structures, according to WHO analysis. Additionally, 24% have adequate plans for resources and funding, 17% have data collection and monitoring tools ready, and only 12% plan to communicate with communities to build trust and drive vaccination demand.
Dr Moeti stressed that the development of a safe and effective vaccine “is only the first step to a successful launch”.
“If communities are not on board and convinced that a vaccine will protect their health, we will make little progress.
It is imperative that countries reach out to communities and listen to their concerns and give them a voice in the process, “he added.
WHO has provided its vaccine readiness assessment tool to all 47 countries in its African region. The tool, for use by Ministries of Health, provides a roadmap for planning the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine and covers ten key areas, from planning and funding, to training, monitoring and community engagement.
(With the contribution of the World Health Organization)
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