The vaccination race is on.
While most of the developed countries started their campaigns by relying on the first available vaccines, the WHO fears an "every man for himself" who would penalize the countries which do not have the means to afford the precious doses for themselves. protect from Covid-19.
Africa, in particular, could be left behind.
However, there is an emergency when the WHO noted Friday, January 8 that the continent has become the second region where the progression of the pandemic is the fastest during the first week of January (+ 19%), behind America North.
"Vaccine nationalism harms everyone," WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Friday.
For him, bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical groups, signed initially by rich countries and now also by middle-income countries, risk “pushing up the price” of vaccines, to the detriment of all.
Vaccines at significant cost
"This means that people at high risk in the poorest and most marginalized countries will not receive the vaccine," he notes worriedly.
In early December, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the president of the Commission of the African Union (AU), also demanded that Africa be among the first beneficiaries of vaccines.
"Those who have the means must not monopolize vaccines. Africa must also be included among those who will benefit from the first moments of these vaccines," he stressed.
"First, the means must be available to buy these vaccines because they are not free."
For the African continent, the first challenge is above all financial.
Of the 47 countries in the WHO Africa region, "only nearly a quarter have adequate plans for resources and funding", regretted in early December the UN agency which hopes to vaccinate "3% of Africans by March 2021 and 20% by the end of next year ".
I urge # COVID19 vaccine manufacturers to prioritize supply through COVAX;
countries that have contracts for more vaccines than they need should donate them to COVAX immediately & stop making bilateral deals.
COVAX is ready.
The time to deliver vaccines equitably is now!
pic.twitter.com/x3kausHTic
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 10, 2021
The WHO wants pharmaceutical companies to prioritize the deployment of vaccines via the Covax mechanism jointly set up by the WHO and the Alliance for Vaccines (Gavi) to distribute anti-Covid vaccines to disadvantaged countries.
This program has made agreements to procure two billion doses of vaccine and the WHO hopes to deliver the first doses by the end of January.
Covax is to support 92 low and middle income countries and of these more than half are in Africa.
Bet on China or Russia ...
Too slow for some countries which prefer to play the bilateralism card rather than wait.
"Countries are trying to play their own card by betting on the geopolitical situation. Countries close to China are negotiating with it for the Sinopharm vaccine. Others, closer to Russia, are trying to do the same with the Sputnik vaccine -V ", notes Mamady Traoré, doctor and referent for vaccination and responses to epidemics at Médecins Sans Frontières, joined by France 24.
See also: Covid-19: the Chinese vaccine, a large-scale campaign but also a diplomatic weapon
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also completed an African tour on Saturday aimed at reaffirming Beijing's willingness to cooperate with Africa.
The presidents of DR Congo and Botswana thanked China for its support in the fight against Covid-19.
For its part, Guinea has appealed to Russia.
Or on clinical trials on his soil
Other countries, like Kenya, South Africa, Morocco and Egypt, have opted for a different strategy.
They negotiated with pharmaceutical companies for clinical trials on their soil.
"It's a market that benefits everyone. For companies, it's about testing their vaccine in a different context, on different populations. In addition, it allows the sample to grow so that it is always more representative, ”explains Mamady Traoré of MSF.
"In return, the countries hosting the tests receive priority access to the vaccine."
Morocco thus participated in phase III trials of the Sinopharm vaccine, the last phase before possible approval.
In return, the country will have priority access to ten million doses.
The kingdom hopes to start its vaccination campaign by early February.
"For Morocco, there is also the ambition of a technology transfer in order to be able to manufacture the vaccine subsequently. It is an interesting strategy", notes the doctor.
A logistical challenge
Obtaining the vaccine is not the only challenge facing African countries.
The vaccines currently inoculated in Europe or the United States, those of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, use innovative technology based on messenger RNA and require storage at very low temperature: -70 degrees for the first, -20 for the second.
This represents a real logistical headache to distribute it, even more in isolated regions or in tropical heat.
"For some countries and some segments of the population it is of course possible but it is very difficult. We have been in places where, for transport, the last mile is on the back of a motorcycle" , Frederik Kristensen, number two of the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), told AFP.
"The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is not suited to the African context. Given the infrastructure problems in Africa, it is impossible to store vaccines at the required temperatures," said Mamady Traoré, who expects more from other vaccines, to start with that of the AstraZeneca laboratory.
While its efficacy is lower (62%) than those of Moderna (94%) and Pfizer (95%) vaccines, AstraZeneca's product has two major advantages for African countries: its storage temperature is between 2 and 8 degrees and the doses are much cheaper, between two and three dollars per injection against 25 at least for the other two.
Africans receptive to vaccination
It remains to convince Africans to receive injections as a wave of mistrust of vaccines sweeps the planet.
Good news: Africa would be relatively spared.
According to a survey conducted by the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and published in mid-December, "79% on average" of those questioned would be vaccinated against the new coronavirus if the vaccine was deemed "safe and effective ".
The study, conducted in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), was carried out between August and December 2020 among more than 15,000 people aged 18 and over in fifteen African countries: South Africa South, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and Uganda.
The small Seychelles archipelago kicked off on Sunday January 10 by becoming the first African country to start vaccinating its population.
The local government aims to vaccinate its 95,000 citizens by inoculating them with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.
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