Vaccination coverage against Covid-19 in about 20 countries, most of them African, does not exceed 10%, regretted this Monday (11), the Expert Committee on Immunization Policy of the WHO (World Health Organization) .
The rollout of Covid vaccines has been carried out at an “unprecedented” pace around the world, with nearly all countries introducing the vaccine in less than 12 months, the organization’s experts noted in a statement.
However, 20 countries — up from 34 in mid-January — have yet to surpass 10% of their vaccinated population, Kate O’Brien, the WHO’s head of vaccination, told a news conference.
Most of these countries are in Africa, with the remainder in the Eastern Mediterranean, America, Western Pacific, and Southeast Asia regions.
“These are countries that are working hard to advance their programs” of vaccination, O’Brien underlined.
WHO and its partners, including UNICEF, are helping these countries increase their vaccination coverage, particularly in Africa.
“That’s where the work is, and as part of that work, you need to ensure that these are the high-risk populations — those who need the vaccine the most and are most at risk of contracting a disease or dying, as well as healthcare workers. health—who receive priority vaccines as immunization programs advance … in an attempt to contain the pandemic,” O’Brien said.
Overall, available data indicate that coverage among high-priority groups is “insufficient”, according to the WHO committee.
Coverage for healthcare personnel is 65% overall, and coverage for those over 60 is 69%, according to the release.
The group also indicates that the international mechanism Covax for the distribution of vaccines — which is co-led by the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), WHO and Cepi (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) — has sufficient doses to vaccinate 70% of the population of the 92 economies by June. low- and middle-income groups that benefit from this system.
The WHO has set a target of reaching 70% of the population of each country by mid-2022.
The Covax mechanism, which aims to ensure equal access to vaccines, has already delivered more than 1.4 billion doses in all 145 countries.
This is less than expected: it initially planned to distribute 2 billion by the end of 2021.
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