COVID-19: African Countries Urged Not to Drop Guard

With up to 6,000 new cases being registered weekly in the African region, countries have been urged not to drop their guard despite COVID-19 declining as a public health emergency of international concern.

“The acute phase of the pandemic might be over, but the pandemic still exists globally. Therefore, we need to take precautions to ensure we remain safe,” Prof. Jayne Byakika Tusiime, Incident Manager for the COVID-19 Incident Management Support team, World Health Organization (WHO) Africa office said.

She was speaking during a webinar dubbed COVID-19 Transition Beyond the Acute Stage of the Pandemic in Africa.

Noting that vaccination has proven effective in preventing the severity of disease and death, Prof. Byakika said that vaccination remains a key strategy for countries to keep COVID-19 in check.

Despite this, she noted that the vaccination rates in Africa are still low and countries need to ramp up this exercise.

Statistics from WHO show that seven out of ten people globally have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine compared to less than four out of ten in Africa. Additionally, only 30% of the African population have completed two doses compared to 65% worldwide.

By Sharon Atieno

https://scienceafrica.co.ke/2023/06/15/covid-19-african-countries-urged-not-to-drop-guard/#:~:text=With%20up%20to%206%2C000%20new,health%20emergency%20of%20international%20concern.