News Scan for Jun 16, 2022

Africa sees significant jump in COVID-19 vaccinationLevels of COVID-19 vaccination in 31 African countries in the first 5 months of 2022 show a significant rise in COVID-19 immunization among high-risk groups, officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) African regional office said today at a briefing.Nearly 50% of healthcare workers and people over age 60 have been fully vaccinated, up from 33% of health workers and 10% of people over 60 vaccinated by the end of 2021.So far, two African countries—Mauritius and Seychelles—have met the 70% global target for overall population coverage, and Rwanda is expected to meet the target by the end of June.

Nine countries have fully vaccinated 70% of the adult population, which is an emphasis in Africa, given that 45% of the population is in the lower-risk under-18 age-group.Officials said 31 countries have mass vaccination campaigns scheduled for this year, and the WHO and its partners are focusing extra support for 14 countries that haven't yet vaccinated 10% of their populations.Officials said Africa's COVID-19 cases were up slightly last week after a 3-week decline, mainly due to rises in East and North Africa.Also, the WHO today welcomed a new licensing agreement between the Medicines Patent Pool and South Africa–based Biotech Africa to boost the supply and sale of COVID-19 serologic tests.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said in a statement that testing is the most effective way to get and keep ahead of the pandemic, adding that the agreement will leverage untapped manufacturing capacity to ensure easier access to affordable tests.Jun 16 WHO African regional office press release Jun 16 WHO statementBoosters plus previous infection shown most