2nd Dose: Africa urgently needs 20 million of COVID-19 vaccine

 Thursday: 27th May 2021 at 7:03 PM

Brazzaville: 27 May 2021: (Press Release)::

Symbolic Photo

Africa needs at least 20 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the next six weeks to get second doses to all who received a first dose within the 8—12-week interval between doses recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

A single dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine gives around 70% protection for at least 12 weeks. Data on the protection from one dose after 12 weeks is limited, however COVID-19 antibodies have been found in the body up to 6 months after one dose. The full course provided with a 12-week interval gives 81% protection for an extended period.

In addition to this urgent need, another 200 million doses of any WHO Emergency Use Listed COVID-19 vaccine are needed so that the continent can vaccinate 10% of its population by September 2021. This follows a call made by WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the World Health Assembly, WHO’s governing body earlier this week for all Member States to support a massive vaccination push.

To date, 28 million COVID-19 doses, of different vaccines, have been administered in Africa, which represents less than two doses administered per 100 people in Africa. Globally, 1.5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered.

“As supplies dry up, dose-sharing is an urgent, critical and short-term solution to ensuring that Africans at the greatest risk of COVID-19 get the much-needed protection,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Africa needs vaccines now. Any pause in our vaccination campaigns will lead to lost lives and lost hope.”

“It’s too soon to tell if Africa is on the cusp of a third wave. However, we know that cases are rising, and the clock is ticking so we urgently appeal to countries that have vaccinated their high-risk groups to speed up the dose-sharing to fully protect the most vulnerable people.”

France is the first country to share COVID-19 vaccines from its domestic supply, donating over 31 000 doses to Mauritania, with another 74 400 set for imminent delivery. France has pledged to share half a million more doses with six African countries in the next few weeks. The European Union and its Member States have pledged over 100 million doses for low-income countries by the end of 2021. The United States of America has pledged to share 80 million doses with lower-income countries, and other high-income countries have expressed interest in sharing vaccines. Expediting these pledges is crucial and the COVAX Facility is a proven tool for swift delivery. 

African countries that are unable to use all their vaccines are sharing them across the continent. While this prevents vaccine wastage, redistributing doses is costly and countries must roll out all available doses as soon as possible. WHO is working closely with countries to improve vaccine rollout by optimizing delivery strategies and increasing uptake.

In the longer term, Africa must boost its manufacturing capacity for vaccines. Yet there is no quick-fix and putting the policies, processes and partnerships in place may take years. Intellectual Property waivers are a crucial first step but must come alongside the sharing of expertise and critical technologies. 

More than 100 WHO Member States, including 54 African countries are co-sponsoring a draft resolution led by Ethiopia which is being presented at this week’s World Health Assembly. The resolution aims to strengthen local production, promote technology transfers and innovation, and consider the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and intellectual property rights through the lens of boosting local production.

WHO is helping African Member States to lay the groundwork to build up vaccine manufacturing capacity. Around 40 African countries joined a recent WHO training to build manufacturing capacities and WHO is working with the African Union to support the African Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa, supporting feasibility studies and potential technology transfers on request, sharing expertise and helping forge crucial partnerships.

Dr Moeti spoke during a virtual press conference today facilitated by APO Group. She was joined by Honorable Semano Henry Sekatle, Minister of Health, Lesotho, and Her Excellency Stéphanie Seydoux, Ambassador for Global Health, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France. Also on hand to answer questions were Dr Richard Mihigo, Coordinator, Immunization and Vaccines Development Programme, WHO Regional Office for Africa, and Dr Nsenga Ngoy, Emergency Response Programme Manager, WHO Regional Office for Africa. 

Nebraska Guard Transitions COVID-19

Defense Feature              23rd July 2020 at 5:57 PM

Testing to Civilian Health Care Workers

23rd July 2020//By Army Staff SGT. HEIDI MCCLINTOCK

After months of support, the Nebraska National Guard is transitioning its COVID-19 testing mission to civilian health care workers throughout the state.

As of July 1, full Nebraska National Guard testing teams are no longer activated to provide testing throughout Nebraska, but a small group of soldiers and airmen is still activated to provide training and knowledge to hos pitals for the Test Nebraska campaign. Another small team is supporting the Omaha area.

A man puts on full body protective gear.

''The transition has been going very well,'' said Army Maj. Angela Ling, the coordinator between the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Resources and the Nebraska National Guard. ''The current process is: if a hospital/clinic/health department is interested in running a Test Nebraska site, they contact DHHS, and together they get a contract signed. Once the contract is signed, my team receives the contract, and we call the hospital directly.''

''When we call the hospital, we work out their training needs, test kit, and [personal protective equipment] delivery and scheduling plan,'' Ling added. ''Once these details are solidified, we send an update to the Test Nebraska team to get them loaded into the scheduling system.''

The transition was put in place after several hundred Nebraska National Guard soldiers and airmen were activated in late March to support testing teams that traveled across the state for weeks on end.

Three Nebraska National Guardsmen wearing face masks stand in grass.

''The civilian hospitals are doing a wonderful job with this transition,'' Ling said. ''They are eager to support this need for their communities.''

Over the past few months, the guard testing teams have been able to provide Test Nebraska sites wherever needed, including nursing homes, corrections facilities, meat processing plants, smaller towns and large cities alike.

The teams have helped to collect more than 80,000 samples for testing during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting 53 counties and all 19 health departments.

''It's been a great honor for the governor to entrust his confidence in Nebraska National Guard soldiers and airmen to provide the testing for COVID-19 these past few months,'' said Army Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, Nebraska adjutant general. ''I couldn’t be more proud of the team we have had on orders to provide the support and capabilities for such an important mission. It goes without being said we have great soldiers and airmen in the state of Nebraska that are ready to respond at a moment's notice.''

A woman in protective gear stands next to a car.

Throughout the pandemic, the guard has always pushed to ensure the safety of the soldiers and airmen supporting the COVID-19 response missions as well as their fellow citizens.

''I have three directives: [to] preserve the health of the force, protect our families in our communities and stay ready,'' Bohac said. ''If we take care of everyone, we take care of the other two, and that’s the direction we’re following.''

As the mission begins to wind down, the soldiers and airmen know that their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and they are proud of their contributions during this time.

''Our team has enjoyed working with numerous agencies and filling a need for the state during this pandemic,'' Ling said.

(Army Staff Sgt. Heidi Mcclintock is assigned to the Nebraska National Guard.)

WHO urges: not to let COVID-19 eclipse other health issues

Public health systems in Africa are coming under severe strain

Brazzaville:23rd April 2020:: (WHO Media//Seven Seas News)::

Public health systems in Africa are coming under severe strain as the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic persists. But as countries battle to bring the outbreak under control, efforts must also be maintained on other health emergencies and progress made against diseases such as malaria or polio preserved, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged today.

Prior to the arrival of the novel coronavirus in Africa, WHO was stressing the need for countries to ensure the continuity of routine essential health services. An overburdened health system not only undermines the effectiveness of the response to COVID-19 but may also undermine the response to a whole host of preventable threats to human health. Even brief interruptions of vaccination make outbreaks more likely to occur, putting children and other vulnerable groups more at risk of life-threatening diseases. 

“I urge all countries to not lose focus on their gains made in health as they adapt to tackle this new threat,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “We saw with the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa that we lost more people to malaria, for instance than, we lost to the Ebola outbreak. Let us not repeat that with COVID-19.”

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa continue to rise, now exceeding 25 000. WHO is supporting countries in all aspects of the COVID-19 response and has recently published guidelines for ensuring the continuation of critical health services, including immunization and anti-malaria campaigns. The guidelines stress the need for countries to take a dynamic approach that mitigates any unavoidable pause in vaccination campaigns. 

The consequences of disrupting efforts to control malaria in Africa could be particularly grave. Current estimates suggest that sub-Saharan Africa accounted for approximately 93% of all malaria cases and 94% of deaths, mainly among children under five. A new analysis by WHO and partners suggests that in a worst case scenario if malaria prevention and treatment services were severely disrupted as a result of COVID-19, the number of malaria deaths in 2020 in sub-Saharan Africa could rise to double the number in 2018.

“Africa has made significant progress over the past 20 years in stopping malaria from claiming lives. While COVID-19 is a major health threat, it’s critical to maintain malaria prevention and treatment programmes. The new modelling shows deaths could exceed 700 000 this year alone. We haven’t seen mortality levels like that in 20 years. We must not turn back the clock,” said Dr Moeti.

There are countries like Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Chad, Central African Republic, Uganda and Tanzania which are continuing with their insecticide treated bed net campaigns and other important malaria prevention activities. Countries are adapting their malaria strategies to the current complex situation.

Another essential health service is immunization. The response to COVID-19 has already disrupted vaccination efforts on the continent. Despite considerable progress on immunization, one in four African children remain under-immunized. Measles vaccination campaigns in Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Sudan have already been suspended because of COVID-19, leaving approximately 21 million children who would have otherwise been vaccinated unprotected. In response to the introduction of physical distancing measures, WHO has published guidelines on immunization in the context of COVID-19.