Covid-19: Vaccines in Africa
Doses of vaccine arrive at Oliver Reginald Tambo International Airport, South Africa, February 1, 2021 © JIYANE FOR GCIS / REUTERS
By: Caroline Paré Follow
2 min
While vaccination against Covid-19 has started in most Western countries, African countries, affected by a second epidemic wave, are waiting for their own campaigns to begin.
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Africa would need 1.5 billion vaccines to immunize 60% of its population: a cost of between 5.8 and 8.2 billion euros.
Speaking at the virtual summit in Davos, the South African President, whose country is the hardest hit on the continent, Cyril Ramaphosa denounced "the rich countries which monopolize these vaccines".
WHO and the vaccine alliance have set up the COVAX mechanism, aimed at disadvantaged countries, with the objective of providing vaccine doses to 20% of the population of participating countries and for its part the African Union s 'is committed to acquire 270 million doses.
Despite these commitments, this issue of the availability of vaccines against Covid-19 for the African continent worries some public health experts.
Pr Christophe Rapp,
Infectious Disease specialist at the
American Hospital of Paris
(Neuilly) President of the
French society of travel medicine
Yap Boum II,
Director of
Epicenter
, biologist, epidemiologist regional representative of Epicenter, the research and epidemiology branch of
Médecins sans frontières
Dr Richard Mihigo,
WHO
Immunization and Vaccine Development Coordinator
in Brazzaville, Congo
Report in Johannesburg by RFI correspondent in South Africa,
Romain Chanson
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