World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti on Thursday expressed concern at the high number of Covid-19 cases in South Africa, warning that infections could spread to neighbouring countries, as has previously happened.

South Africa recorded 4 623 new Covid-19 infections by Wednesday and 102 new Covid-19-related deaths, taking the official death toll to 56 077. South Africa accounts for a third of the over 4.7-million Covid-19 cases and 128 000 deaths on the continent.

Moeti said 2 out of 9 provinces in South Africa were already experiencing a third wave of the pandemic, but added that in most provinces there was an increase in the number of cases.

“Population fatigue in adhering to preventive measures, the circulation of variants and cooler weather in Southern Africa is driving people indoors and could be contributing to this increase of cases,” she said.

While it is still too soon for the WHO to say that Africa is seeing a resurgence, there are increasing numbers of cases in some countries that the organisation is monitoring.

Namibia and Zambia are among 11 African countries experiencing an upward trend in Covid-19 cases.

Moeti said this makes the need for a rapid roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines more important.

VACCINE DOSE-SHARING

She appealed to countries that have vaccinated their high-risk groups to speed up dose-sharing to fully protect the most vulnerable people, adding that as supplies dry up, dose-sharing is an urgent, critical and short-term solution to ensuring that Africans who are vulnerable to Covid-19 get the much-needed protection.

She noted that 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, she advised.

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 to 12-week interval between doses, as recommended by the WHO.  

She explained that a single dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine gives around 70% protection for at least 12 weeks.

Moeti highlighted that there is an urgent need for another 200-million doses of any WHO emergency use listed Covid-19 vaccines to vaccinate 10% of the continent’s population by September 2021.

The WHO is working closely with countries to improve vaccine roll-out by optimising delivery strategies and increasing uptake.

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.

It has also 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 US has pledged to share 80-million doses with lower-income countries, and other high-income countries have expressed interest in sharing vaccines.