The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa has supported the use of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19, even in countries reporting variants of the disease.
“While a vaccine that protects against all forms of Covid-19 disease is our greatest hope, it is essential to prevent serious cases and hospitalizations that overwhelm hospitals and healthcare systems,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a press release. briefing Thursday.
The second wave of Covid-19 in Africa, which peaked in January, was according to Dr. Must be more lethal than the first wave. “Deaths have increased by 40% over the past 28 days compared to the previous 28 days,” she noted.
The increase in deaths on the continent has’ caused health workers and health care systems’ dangerous flooding ‘, she said.
With the deployment of vaccines, “if cases remain mostly soft and moderate and do not require critical care, we could save many lives,” said Dr. Must be added.
In addition to increased deaths, variants of Covid-19 are spreading across the continent, with seven other countries now reporting the B.1.351 variant first detected in South Africa, including Ghana, Kenya, Comoros, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia.
Two people traveling from Tanzania to the UK were found to be carrying the variant linked to South Africa, although Tanzania has not updated the Covid-19 data since the end of April and denies that the virus is in the country. exist.
Vaccines are not yet widely administered in Africa, but the WHO expects substantive action to begin in March.
Separately, WHO has recognized two fatal cases in a new Ebola outbreak in North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 200 contacts are being tracked.