“As Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we prefer the least complicated vaccines to be the one to us,” the Deputy Director of the Africa CDC said last week.
Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma made this comment while giving an update on COVID-19 in Africa during a virtual COVID-19 training organized by Thomson Reuters Foundations for Journalists from Sub-Sahara Africa.
He disclosed that discussions are ongoing among Member States, key partners and stakeholders on acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in the continent. He stated that vaccines do not save lives, but the vaccination saves lives, adding that they need to ensure that the vaccination actually happen and also be distributed to places where it is needed.
Dr. Ouma said that most African countries are not yet ready for vaccination because the continent does not know which vaccine they will be using, noting that infrastructurally, most countries are prepared for vaccination because the continent is used to other vaccinations. “We expect that when the vaccines are available, it will be much easier for Africa to vaccinate as the continent is used to vaccination,” he said. Dr. Ouma pointed out that by the end of this month, they will be able to know how ready Africa is for the vaccination because they are currently conducting a rapid assessment on their status of readiness, disclosing that they will work hard to ensure that countries are prepared to have the vaccines within the first quarter of 2021.
“If we choose a vaccine that requires a normal room temperature, single dose, relatively easy to transport from the country where it is manufactured to the county where it is needed, then I will say we should be ready for it in the first quarter,” he said. “But if the vaccine is more complex that requires a negative 80 degrees temperature for example, then it will be a very complex issue to manage on the continent.”
Speaking on the new variant, the Deputy Director said that more investigations are being conducted to the COVID-19 strain, adding that however, the vaccine developed will be able to combat the virus. He said that Africa CDC has reference labs across the continent that is doing a full genomic sequencing on a very regular basis so that they will be able to monitor when the new variants are coming up or not.
He said that there are two three variants that are circulating in the continent, possibly more will come because of the nature of the virus. He said they needed to know when the variants are popping up and they prepare for them. “Luckily, so far, the variants that have popped up, although they are very easy to transmit, they are not showing any sign that they are very violent, that they are going to cause more illness or worst diseases,” he said.
He stated that the tests that had been conducted shows that the vaccines candidates that are in an advanced stage are still covering even the new variants that were coming into the continent.
He said that the media must send the message that Member States must invest in public health institutions, adding that States must invest in local manufacturing for any medical supplies so that if something else comes up, they will be able to respond with their internal capacity.
He encouraged Journalists to follow the standard Public Health safety precautions while on duty-and spread the word.
He said, “We cannot be able to tell when the second wave will end, these waves come as a result of relaxing the public health measures. If we respect public health measures, we will avoid the third waves.” He called on political leadership to enhance community engagement for improved usage of face masks and hand washing measures, enhance surveillance for early detection of hotspots and ensure an adequate supply of personnel, among others.
By Stephen V. Lansana
19/01/2021. ISSUE NO:7982