By Tommy Wilkes

LONDON (Reuters – Africa’s chances of overcoming COVID-19 are slim if 70% of the population has been vaccinated before end-2022. However, a Monday report stated that Africa faces “extreme vaccine discrimination”.

The Omicron variant was discovered in Southern Africa. This has raised concerns that viral mutations can be encouraged by low vaccination rates, and can spread to other countries.

Only five of Africa’s 54 nations are close to meeting the World Health Organisation goal of fully vaccination 40% of the population by the end of 2021. This was according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in its report COVID-19 Africa.

According to the data of the foundation, one in fifteen Africans have been fully vaccinated compared to nearly 70% for the G7 group, made up almost entirely by billionaire Sudanese telecoms entrepreneur, to encourage better governance and economic growth in Africa.

Mo Ibrahim, the chair of its Foundation said that from early on in the crisis, other African voices and our Foundation have warned that unvaccinated Africa could turn into a breeding ground for new variants.

He said that Omicron’s emergence reminds us of the global danger of COVID-19 and reminded us that vaccination is the best way to protect the world. We continue to suffer from extreme vaccine discrimination and Africa is the most neglected.”

After developed countries received initial orders for vaccines from major pharmaceutical companies, Africa’s shortage of vaccines has continued. COVAX was a global program that shares vaccines with other countries, but it started slowly.

According to the report, although deliveries of vaccines have been increasing in Africa over recent months, weak infrastructure and poorly-funded healthcare systems are hindering rollouts.

There have been many instances of confusion about the expiration dates for donated vaccines. This has resulted in some being destroyed.

Monday’s report stated that the Pandemic exposed weaknesses in African civil registration capacity, where only 10% of African deaths were officially recorded. The possibility that vaccine rates may have been lower than reported official statistics raised concerns about the weakening of African civil registration systems.

Foundation also stated that fragile social safety nets need to be strengthened. Africa’s average COVID-19-response, measured as a proportion of gross domestic product excluding healthcare, was 2.4%. That is half the global average.