African countries are facing high levels of COVID-19 transmissions from asymptomatic and near asymptomatic individuals, according to Mesfin Teklu, Senior Technical Director Health at International Rescue Committee.
This presents a greater risk to the elderly and those with underlying conditions, as vaccination rates in Africa remain low.
“This new data is sobering and highlights the importance of ensuring that African countries can access COVID-19 vaccines as the world continues to fight the pandemic,” said Teklu.
“In total, there have been over 8.4 million COVID-19 cases and more than 216,000 deaths recorded in Africa,” he added.
So far, approximately only 5.23 per cent of people are fully vaccinated in Africa compared to 66 per cent in the United Kingdom and 56 per cent in the United States. Almost half of the global population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
A fully vaccinated person is defined as someone who has received a complete dose — two doses for Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, etc., and one for Johnson & Johnson.
As of today, 7.13 million doses have been administered to 2.73 million Nigerians, which accounts for 2.4 per cent of the eligible population. Only 1.3 per cent has been fully vaccinated, which is equivalent to 3.87 doses per 100 people.
Other African nations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, South Sudan, Chad, Uganda, and Ethiopia have vaccinated less than 1 per cent of their population.
