Day: June 25, 2021

“Africa is facing a fast-surging third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, with cases spreading more rapidly and projected to soon overtake the peak of the second wave the continent witnessed at the start of 2021,” according to the World Health Organization’s regional office in Africa.

WHO said in a statement the pandemic is resurging in 12 African countries. Meanwhile, the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, has been detected in 14 African countries.

“The third wave is picking up speed, spreading faster, hitting harder. With rapidly rising case numbers and increasing reports of serious illness, the latest surge threatens to be Africa’s worst yet,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa said.

The third wave comes as Africa is experiencing a vaccine shortage. WHO says just slightly more than 1% of Africans have been fully vaccinated. While approximately 2.7 billion COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered globally, WHO says just under 1.5% of those shots have been administered on the African continent.

The Associated Press reports that its analysis of recent COVID-19 deaths reveals that nearly all the deaths occurred in people who were unvaccinated. The news agency said the results of its assessment are “a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been.” In addition, AP said the deaths per day “could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine.”

Workers and residents in several neighborhoods in Sydney, Australia, have been told to stay home as officials attempt to bring a COVID-19 outbreak under control. Authorities say they believe they outbreak started with a limousine driver who transported an international flight crew to a quarantine hotel in Sydney.

The directors of the WHO, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization say they met earlier this month to determine how they can collectively “tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and the pressing global challenges at the intersection of public health, intellectual property and trade.”

The three organizations said in a statement that their initiatives will include:

• a series of “capacity-building workshops to enhance the flow of updated information on current developments in the pandemic and responses to achieve equitable access to COVID-19 health technologies.”

• the creation of a “joint platform for tripartite technical assistance to countries relating to their needs for COVID-19 medical technologies, providing a one-stop shop that will make available the full range of expertise on access, IP and trade matters provided by our organizations, and other partners, in a coordinated and systematic manner.”

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Friday that global count of COVID-19 infections has reached more than 180 million. The three countries with the most cases are the U.S. with 33.6 million cases, India with more than 30 million infections and Brazil with 18.2 million.

Source: Voice of America

The first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Ivory Coast in late February.  By March 1, the country started vaccinating people, making it the first in the world to do so through the COVAX initiative, a program co-led by the World Health Organization; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; and UNICEF.

“The program plays a crucial role,” said Kouacou Epa, an immunization specialist with UNICEF in Ivory Coast. “We know that the vaccines are being used more in the developed countries, but we know the coronavirus is also here in Ivory Coast and the other developing nations.”

Epa continued, “What COVAX is doing is to make sure the vaccines are available in quantity and quality to help countries attain herd immunity, stop the disease and, if possible, go back to the normal lives we knew before.”

So far, Epa told VOA, the country has used the more than 500,000 doses delivered through COVAX. Additionally, it was able to secure more vaccines from other nations, including India and France, bringing the total doses to nearly 730,000. 

Slow rollout

The vaccination rollout has not gone without challenges, however. The country’s head of public hygiene, Bi Vroh Joseph Benie, says the average Ivorian went through three stages in their thinking about the vaccine.

“In the beginning, most people didn’t want to take the vaccine because there was some fake news in social media that the vaccine was going to go through an experimental phase on Africans first. For those reasons, people were very reluctant,” Benie told VOA.

“After that, we went through a second phase, where people were a bit hesitant … and the third phase, where people were engaged and want to take the shot when they saw that people who got vaccinated were not showing any major side effects,” he added.

Another hurdle came when many countries suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about possible blood clots.

Both Benie and Epa said that to ensure people would step out of their comfort zone, the country modified its communication strategy to tackle vaccine hesitancy. Campaigners concentrated not only on the urban center of Abidjan but also developed what has been called the “politics of proximity” — meaning they got closer to communities across the West African nation to spread the word.

As of June 9, the Ivory Coast reported over 47,500 COVID-19 cases, with more than 600 deaths, and has vaccinated nearly 607,000 people, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene. 

“We went from one vaccination center at the Palais des Sports arena in the beginning to now more than over 400 centers across the country,” Benie said. “Additionally, we have a dozen mobile units to get closer to the population.”

Mobile vaccination units

At the city hall of Abobo, a northern suburb of Abidjan and one of its 10 communes, people wait in line to get vaccinated. Yao Serge Djezou, the deputy director of communication at the health ministry, is on hand at the ministry-organized event.

“In areas where there aren’t many hospitals, these mobile vaccination units are there to fill the void. It also helps to get closer to the communities,” Djezou said.

While many Ivorians still said they would not get the shot, some, like Abidjan resident Elhaj Gbane Mour, said they would. “I will get vaccinated 100% because it’s a disease that could kill you,” he said. “We saw it on TV, and we saw that it killed a lot people, so everyone should get the shot.”

That’s not the case for Sephora Beugré, a student in Abidjan. “No, no, I will not take the vaccine, because I am afraid that it might be dangerous for (my) health. So I will not do it,” she said. 

Kouadio Jonas N’guessan, also of Abidjan, said, “I don’t know anyone close to me who died from the virus. So I don’t think the coronavirus exists in Cote D’Ivoire.” 

Incentives to get vaccinated

Meanwhile, like many countries, Ivory Coast is offering incentives for people to get the shot — such as free tickets to the recent soccer match between the Ivorian National team and Burkina Faso. 

“We just asked all the fans to get vaccinated. And with their vaccination card, they get to see the match for free. It’s a concept we just started, and people have been responsive,” Djezou told VOA.

Ivorian health officials say that in addition to providing vaccines, they’ll keep testing for the virus, a task that is also key to controlling the pandemic.

They are also ready to receive more shots, including ones that require colder storage temperatures, because they have a cold-chain system ready to handle whatever vaccines come their way.

Source: Voice of America

The U.N. children’s fund (UNICEF) says COVID-19 is having devastating consequences on millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa, as many become orphaned, making them vulnerable to many social ills.

The region is in the throes of a full-blown third wave of COVID-19. Children are often not directly affected by the deadly disease, but they are losing their parents to the pandemic.

Traditionally, when children become orphaned, the burden of looking after them falls on the grandparents. However, UNICEF spokesman James Elder, said older people are among the main victims of COVID-19. As a result, children are often shoveled off to another relative, who likely is living in dire, impoverished circumstances. The added strain and stress puts children at risk of abuse and child labor.

“We have seen the reporting of children reporting on help lines violence against them and the need for support,” said Elder. “Those things come again when children have lost the support mechanism that they previously had, which often comes from being orphaned or an economic situation where a parent simply had to leave to go elsewhere because economic opportunities have dried up due to the pandemic.”

Children who do not go to school are unprotected and open to exploitation, and Elder said COVID-19 has dealt a devastating blow to education. For example, he noted an estimated 9 million children in eastern and southern Africa haven’t returned to schools since they started re-opening

He also said many children are not getting enough to eat because of growing poverty due to pandemic-related lockdowns, and poor nutrition leads to worsening health.

“We know that routine immunization rates and things like malaria access have been slashed, as I say some by 20 percent,” Elder said. “We know that pregnant women have a great deal more difficulty getting to antenatal services. We know pregnant women have died because of that, because of things like lockdown and because health care systems are absolutely stretched…Yes, there have been unnecessary deaths of children.”

UNICEF says governments must prioritize keeping schools open and safe and is urging them to keep children in school while supplying water and sanitation to schools across the continent.

The U.N. children’s agency says it is increasing cash transfers to the most vulnerable and providing psychological support for children and their families. It says it also is working to prevent family separation and to strengthen family and community-based care during this challenging time.

Source: Voice of America

Médecins Sans Frontières said Friday that three aid workers for the organization were found dead near their vehicle in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region.

“No words can truly convey all our sadness, shock and outrage against this horrific attack,” the medical charity said in a statement. “Nor can words soothe the loss and suffering of their families and loved ones, to whom we relay our deepest sympathy and condolences.”

MSF said they lost contact with the staffers Thursday, and Friday morning their vehicle was found empty, and their bodies lay a few meters from it.

They identified the victims as Maria Hernandez, 35, MSF’s emergency coordinator who is a Spanish national; Yohannes Halefom Reda, 31, assistant coordinator and an Ethiopian national; and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael, 31, their driver and also an Ethiopian citizen.

“The death of Maria, Yohannes and Tedros is a devastating blow to all of us, both in Ethiopia and in the other countries where we operate around the world,” MSF said in the statement.

U.N. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric tweeted, “We cannot condemn strongly enough attacks on humanitarian workers.”

He noted that aid workers are too often targeted with the intention of scaring away humanitarians.

“But what it does is denies men, women and children who need help, the help that they need,” he said, adding the United Nations condolences to those tweeted by UNICEF and the ICRC.

Tigray has been the center of hostilities since November, when fighting broke out between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. 

The fighting has exacerbated an already complex humanitarian situation in Tigray, where some 350,000 people are facing famine and at least 4 million others are coping with severe hunger. Aid groups have appealed for access, but they are often denied it by armed groups.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi urged parties to the conflict to protect the safety of both civilians and humanitarians on the ground in a statement earlier Friday.

“Civilians, including refugees have suffered enough and UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies must be allowed to help them,” Grandi said. “Only improved security and entry and access throughout Tigray will allow UNHCR and other humanitarian partners to carry out our mandate to assist those desperately in need.”

Source: Voice of America