Africa may not have access to a coronavirus vaccine until the second quarter of next year, according to the continent’s top public health official.
John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Africa is on the verge of a second wave of coronavirus infections and that it will be “extremely dangerous” if more developed parts of the world vaccinate themselves and restrict travel to people with proof of a vaccination, according to the Associated Press.
The Africa CDC is in talks for vaccine options with Russia, China, and others. Nkengasong said the continent would need about 1.5 billion doses, roughly two per person, to reach the 60% coverage needed for herd immunity.
“The worst thing we want for the continent is for COVID to become an endemic disease,” he said.
The World Health Organization’s Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, said there is a goal in place to vaccinate 20% of Africa’s population by the end of next year. However, the distribution of vaccines to the continent could cost over $5 billion to priority populations alone, and that’s without the costs for delivering the vaccines.
Authorities have begun distributing 2.7 million antigen tests throughout Africa, which Nkengasong says could be “perhaps a game-changer” that would allow faster and easier testing.
Around 21 million tests have been conducted in the continent’s 54 countries. Last week, Africa surpassed 2 million cases of the virus.
