Africa seeks diversification as it lags behind in vaccine rollout

Having so far only acquired about 70 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Friday, with some 53.3 million doses administered, Africa has resorted to a diversification strategy and donations to help address vaccine scarcity. This was after India diverted its vaccine production for domestic use.

During a virtual press conference on Friday, Aurelia Nguyen, the managing director of the COVAX Facility at Gavi, a global vaccine alliance, said after COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Africa halted in early June, COVAX pursued portfolio diversification to avoid reliance on one supplier. COVAX is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries.

"The diversification strategy will be able to help mitigate shortages we have encountered. With nine vaccine portfolios, if one manufacturer is not able, we will be able to compensate with new manufacturers on board, so that gives us the confidence that we will be able to meet our target," Nguyen said.

The continent has the lowest vaccine coverage in the world, with only about 1.19 percent of its population having received a full vaccine regimen out of a population of 1.2 billion people.

Nguyen said COVAX forecasts it will have supplied 520 million doses by the end of this year in Africa, rising to nearly 850 million by the end of the first quarter of 2022. These are all purchases based on a successful fundraising summit held in early June.

"Indeed, now we have the resources in place to be able to protect up to 30 percent of the population in every African country eligible for doses under the COVAX commitment. The majority of these doses will be delivered from September onwards," Nguyen said.

"The need to get more vaccines to Africa and other underserved regions has never been more urgent. At the moment donations have an important role to play."

According to Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, progress in vaccine supplies after a prolonged scarcity will boost efforts to suppress the third wave.

"With much larger COVID-19 vaccine deliveries expected to arrive in July and August, African countries must use this time to prepare to rapidly expand the roll-out," Moeti said.

She called on African governments and partners to expand vaccination sites, improve cold chain capabilities and embark on community-based awareness campaigns to defuse vaccine hesitancy.