Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli calls for Palestinian displacement, backs Egypt's stance    Health minister and Syrian communications minister discuss enhancing digital health cooperation    Saudi Arabia, France sign cultural cooperation program at Versailles    Executive regulations to define exceptions to deportation under amended traffic law    Saudi Arabia's digital sector grows to 389,000 workers with record female participation    Riyadh Metro adjusts start time to 5:30 AM to serve commuters and students    Saudi Red Crescent to implement first aid in secondary schools    Putin rejects Western security in Ukraine, warns foregin troops would be legitimate targets    Two Venezuelan military aircraft flew near US Navy vessel, Pentagon says    Thailand names its third prime minister in two years    Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. set to meet in exhibition boxing match in 2026    Gamers frustrated as Hollow Knight: Silksong crashes stores on launch    'My mother was my shelter and storm': Arundhati Roy on her fierce new memoir    Al-Falih: Saudi Arabia expected to host over 1,000 RHQs for global companies in a few years    HONOR to participate in Global Symposium for Regulators 2025 in Saudi Arabia    Restored Big Ben tower up for architecture award    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series laptops redefine learning, creating and gaming    Al Ahli secure Flamengo starlet Matheus Gonçalves in long-term deal through 2027    Al Hilal sign Turkish defender Yusuf Akcicek on €22m deal until 2029    Al Qadsiah sign German midfielder Julian Weigl to strengthen defensive midfield    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



COVID-19 vaccine shipments boost for Africa
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 30 - 07 - 2021

After a near-halt of COVID-19 vaccine shipments in Africa, delivers have ramped up in recent months, the UN health agency said on Thursday.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) nearly four million doses of coronavirus vaccines from the UN-partnered COVAX initiative arrived in Africa last week, compared with just 245,000 for all of June.
Reminding that the continent is still "in the throes of the pandemic's third wave", WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, told a virtual press conference with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, "we are not out of the woods yet".
Left behind
WHO said that it hoped COVAX would ship 520 million doses to Africa by the end of 2021, in addition to more shots from other sources, including deliveries from the African Union, which is expected to supply around 45 million jabs by the end of the year.
In total, almost 79 million vaccine doses have reached Africa but only 21 million people, or just 1.6 percent of Africa's population, are fully vaccinated.
"We are beginning to see positive signs as vaccine deliveries to Africa are picking up pace after nearly coming to a halt", said Dr. Moeti.
Around 30 countries have used more than three-quarters of the vaccines they received, according to WHO.
Despite the vaccine supply crunch, seven countries, including Equatorial Guinea, Mauritius, Morocco and Seychelles, have reached vaccination rates significantly above the continental average.
"Considering a two-dose schedule, as is the case with most COVID-19 vaccines, 820 million vaccine doses are needed to reach the target of fully vaccinating 30 percent of Africa's population by the end of this year", explained the UN official.
Stepping up production
Africa still needs more than 700 million doses to reach this target.
To this end, COVAX has sealed deals with Sinopharm and Sinovac to immediately supply 110 million doses to low-income countries, of which 32.5 million are destined for Africa.
"These doses have been allocated to countries this week and will be delivered as soon as countries are ready to receive them", said Dr. Moeti.
And with more vaccine candidates and manufacturing sites at the tail end of the review process for Emergency Use Listing by WHO, the COVAX facility is confident that it will deliver at least 520 million doses to Africa by year's end.
Moreover, the African Union recently announced plans to start delivering 400 million Johnson & Johnson doses to countries throughout the continent.
Rolling out vaccines
With the expected influx of doses, WHO underscored the importance of scaling up all the aspects of vaccine rollouts to reach as many people as possible — from mobilizing adequate resources to increasing vaccine confidence.
Noting that initial rollouts prohibited countries from unlocking funding because their costing schemes often omitted critical expenses, such as cold-chain storage, delivery logistics and paying vaccinators, Dr. Moeti said, "we continue to support countries to better plan and cost vaccine operational and delivery processes".
Tanzania kicked off its vaccination campaign this week with the first delivery of around a million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses through COVAX from the United States.
"Together we can begin to turn the tide against this untold human tragedy", concluded the WHO regional director. — UN news


Clic here to read the story from its source.