ADDIS
ABABA, Ethiopia
The African Union's health watchdog accused world leaders Thursday of falling short in their pledge to share coronavirus vaccines with poorer nations, and their failure risked making the disease endemic.
Africa is
facing a Covid-19 resurgence as it lags in the global vaccination drive, with
just 3.18 percent of its 1.3-billion population fully innoculated.
"We
cannot continue to politicise this situation by making statements that we do
not follow through with firm commitments," John Nkengasong, head of Africa
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC),
said. "Pledges do not put vaccines into peoples' arms."
Across the
continent, cases are rising at an alarming rate.
More than
40 countries are experiencing a third wave of infection and six are grappling
with their fourth, even as life in many wealthy nations is returning to normal
thanks to high inoculation figures.
Facing
anger over unequal access to jabs, the Group of Seven industrialised powers
pledged in June to provide a billion Covid vaccines with developing nations, up
from 130 million promised in February.
The G7
plan also included commitments to avert future pandemics -- slashing time taken
to develop and licence vaccines to under 100 days, reinforcing global
surveillance and strengthening the WHO.
But
Nkengasong said the doses had yet to materialise.
"We
have not seen a billion vaccines," he told an online press briefing.
"We
are not as a continent very keen in any definition of vaccine diplomacy that
would mean people make statements in the media that are not backed with
reality," he added.
The World
Health Organization (WHO) Wednesday urged rich nations to give priority to
getting first jabs for health workers and vulnerable populations in poorer
nations over supplying boosters to their own citizens.
It is
estimated Africa will need 1.5 billion vaccine doses to immunise 60 percent of
its inhabitants and achieve some level of herd immunity.
"We
are not going to win this war against the pandemic if we do not vaccinate
everybody at speed," said Nkengasong.
"Otherwise,
we should brace ourself to live with this virus as an endemic disease going
forward."
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