WHO considers three African countries for vaccine production

WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that three countries in Africa are being considered for local production of COVID-19 vaccines.

  WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Kazadi Mulombo, disclosed in Abuja, during a joint news briefing on COVID-19 vaccination updates, yesterday.

According to him, there is currently a consideration to select up to three countries in Africa to install that capacity, so that they will install local production and upscale the production.

  “Following the decision of India not to export COVID-19 vaccines, as you know, the G7 has also announced when they were addressing the issue of vaccine equity, that there is a push towards lifting the patent and to try and decentralise the vaccine production. G7 also pledged more than 800 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be shared through the COVAX mechanism. It is expected that over the next few weeks, the availability of vaccines will improve,” he said.

  As Africa heads towards a looming third wave, many African lives are at stake as it recorded a 53 per cent increase in cases compared with the previous fortnight in the last two weeks.

  The threat of a third wave of COVID-19 is real and is rising in the African Region, including Nigeria.

There are five countries currently experiencing a resurgence, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

  A rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is important, while strengthening preventive measures such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well-ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue.