Opening remarks, COVID-19 Press Conference, 16 September 2021

Submitted by [email protected]on Thu, 16/09/2021 - 11:24

Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti

Warm greetings to all of our colleagues in the media and to everyone watching this press conference online, where we will discuss the COVID-19 situation in Africa, and the vaccine rollout in particular.

I'm very pleased to be joined for this conversation by Ms Aurélia Nguyen, the Managing Director at the Office of the COVAX Facility at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, who will update us on COVAX's efforts and work to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines in a very challenging and competitive global context. A warm welcome to you Ms Nguyen.

I'm also very happy to welcome Dr Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija, my dear friend and sister, Yodi, who is the Chair of the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance, who will talk about Africa's need for vaccine equity and preparation for delivery.

We have now passed the sad milestone of 8 million COVID-19 cases on the African continent. But for the ninth consecutive week, new cases have declined, with another sharp drop of 30% in the past week. This decline is good news, but it should not be a reason to let our guard down.

Vaccination coverage remains very low with only 50 million, or 3.6%, of Africa's population being fully vaccinated. Thirty-two African countries have reported the Delta variant and 44 have the Alpha variant, for example, and we have seen several times how quickly COVID-19 can flare-up when restrictions are eased. These factors come together to increase the risk of further waves of infection and loss of life in this pandemic.

So even though it is at times incredibly challenging, adhering to the personal preventive measures will help to protect people from dying or falling very ill due to COVID-19.

It is clear from the disappointing news of the COVAX Facility's 25% downward forecast, which we will hear more about from Ms Nguyen, of vaccine deliveries thisyear, that export bans and vaccine hoarding still have a chokehold on the life-line of vaccine supplies to Africa.

As long as rich countries lock COVAX and the African Union out of the market, Africa will miss its vaccination goals.

The 470 million doses now expected via COVAX by December this year are enough to vaccinate just 17% of all Africans, short of the 40% global target. Even if all planned shipments via COVAX and the African Union arrive, Africa still needs almost500 million more doses to reach the year-end goal. At this rate, the continent may only reach the 40% target by the end of March next year.

I took part 2 days ago in a meeting between the African Union special envoy and THEteam, including the Africa CDC Director, the Afreximbank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and WHO and Gavi as COVAX representatives, to strategize on this challenge. This was an important conversation about how to continue to work together and secure support for vaccine supplies in Africa.

I am encouraged that when deliveries pick up - as they have after a near standstill for months - African countries show the resolve to keep the vaccine rollouts moving. Last week 13 million doses were administered in Africa, up from a weekly average of 3 to 4 million in the previous weeks.

As WHO, we are working side-by-side with governments, and our partners, to get the vaccines into people's arms quickly. With over 200 staff in place across Africa to support the vaccine rollout, WHO is assisting countries to secure the additional staffthey need, the financing, to strengthen supply chains and logistics, and to boost demand for vaccines.

Globally, there is much discussion now around booster shots, with some countries starting to provide them for their populations. These political decisions are moving ahead of the science. There is not yet consensus on whether immunity against severe illness from COVID-19 wanes over time to the degree of requiring booster shots.

Current evidence indicates third doses should be given only to people facing a high risk of severe illness and dying, despite being fully vaccinated, particularly those with compromised immune systems.

For now, while so many people around the world are yet to receive a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, fully-vaccinated, healthy people should not be given a booster dose.

I've said many times that it is in everyone's interest to make sure the most-at-risk groups in every country are protected. As it stands, the huge gap in vaccine equity is not closing anywhere near fast enough.

The quickest way to end this pandemic, is for countries with reserves, to release their doses so that other countries can buy them. Countries that have pledged doses should urgently deliver on their promises now not later, and scale-up vaccine sharing. Manufacturers need to be more transparent about their supply schedules and countries with enough doses must give up their place in the manufacturing queue for COVAXand AVAT.

In closing, I would like to congratulate Guinea on having ended the Marburg outbreakyesterday. This outbreak was used as an opportunity to reinforce health and prevention messages in communities, and to boost cross-border surveillance. My congratulations to the communities, the health workers, the government leaders and partners involved.

This was one of many health emergencies in addition to COVID-19 that countries are dealing with. For example, Nigeria and Niger are also responding to cholera outbreaks, Madagascar to plague and a devastating nutrition crisis, and there are ongoing humanitarian crises in northern Ethiopia, Mozambique, and the Central African Republic, among others. As WHO, we are supporting countries to save lives in times of crisis, and to build stronger, more resilient systems, to mitigate the impacts of these external shocks.

Finally, I'd like to mention that tomorrow is World Patient Safety Day, which serves as a reminder that health care should be provided with compassion and respect, by health workers who have the skills to succeed, and in clean and safe environments toprevent the spread of infections. We've seen how important this is during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year we are calling on everyone to 'act now for safe and respectful childbirth' by making sure that the needs of pregnant women and mothers are heard and acted on, and that they and their infants receive quality care. This serves as an additionalreminder of the many areas of collaboration we have as WHO, with ministries of health and other stakeholders, in addition to COVID-19.

So, I look forward very much to our discussion today, a very warm welcome again to my fellow panellists and thank you for having joined us.

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