Should Africa make covid-19 vaccination a priority?

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Africa’s health workers are already overstretched. Among their priorities are delivering catch-up vaccinations for diseases like measles and tetanus

In recent weeks, however, vaccine shipments to Africa have greatly increased. About 50m doses arrived in October, almost double the number that had landed in September. Uganda, which has administered 6m doses so far, expects to have received 21m doses by the end of this year—enough to inoculate almost every adult. With more shots on the horizon, the World Health Organisation is calling on all countries to vaccinate 70% of their total populations by mid-2022.

. Millions of children missed these jabs during lockdowns, because their parents could not travel or were afraid of getting covid in clinics. In Moroto, a district in Uganda some 400km from the capital, Kampala, Hans Lokale, the local health officer, says that normally about 10% of children do not return for follow-up doses. Since the pandemic that figure has doubled. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Ghana’s health minister, says his covid programme has not distracted from other public-health efforts.

Whether or not the 70% target is desirable, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa will struggle to reach it. As of early November most of them had used less than half of the doses they had received . One reason is that many of the doses were donated by rich countries shortly before their expiry date. “They bring vaccines that are going to expire in two weeks,” says Dr Lokale. He has 2,000 doses that must be put into arms in the next fortnight.

Many people in Moroto are cattle herders who move periodically in search of fresh pasture. That can make it hard to track them down for a second dose. Dr Lokale is hoping for a shipment of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, which would solve that problem. As global vaccine supplies increase African countries could become more selective, choosing those that are better suited to their needs, says Gian Gandhi from Unicef.A harder problem may be persuading people to get a jab.

 

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