CONGO. Brazzaville: Recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 22nd of July showed that the third wave of COVID-19 in Africa allowing is far from being over.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti noted that the Eid celebrations which was marked this week may have resulted in a rise in cases.
She noted that there was a sharp drop in the cases recorded in South Africa but apart from that, other countries witnessed a rise.
“Be under no illusions, Africa’s third wave is not over. This small step forward offers hope and inspiration but must not mask the big picture for Africa.
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” Many countries are still at peak risk and Africa’s third wave surged up faster and higher than ever before. The Eid celebrations which we marked this week may also result in a rise in cases. We must all double down on prevention measures to build on these fragile gains.”
Data of COVID-19 Cases
The WHO data showed that new case numbers in Africa fell by 1.7 per cent to nearly 282,000 in the week ending 18 July.
However, removing data from South Africa, which accounts for 37 per cent of these cases revealed a uniquely steep and unbroken nine-week surge.
The current peak is 80 per cent higher than Africa’s previous peak when data from South Africa is excluded. Without the data from South Africa, cases rose in Africa by 18 per cent to over 182,000 in the week ending on July 18.
The data showed that 21 African countries have seen cases rise by over 20 per cent for the past least two weeks.
The Delta Variant is being found in 26 African countries, the Alpha variant is in 38 countries while the Beta variant is in 35 countries.
COVID-19 Vaccine
On the COVID-19, around 60 million doses are expected from the United States of America, Team Europe, the United Kingdom, purchased doses and other partners through the COVAX Facility.
African governments were urged to speed up vaccine rollout to ensure that the most vulnerable are fully vaccinated by the end of September.
“A massive influx of doses means that Africa must go all out and speed up the vaccine rollout by five to six times if we are to get all these doses into arms and fully vaccinate the most vulnerable 10% of all Africans by the end of September,” said Dr Moeti.
However, data reveals that from the current pace of vaccination in Africa, 70 per cent of African countries will not reach the 10 per cent vaccination target for all countries by the end of September.
To meet the September target, there must be 21 million doses each week but currently, about 3.5 million to 4 million doses are being administered weekly in Africa.
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