WHO: Africa needs $9bn to buy, distribute 1.4bn doses of COVID-19 vaccines

The World Health Organisation says Africa will need at least $9bn to procure and distribute 1.4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Immunisation and Vaccines Development Programme Coordinator, WHO, Dr. Richard Mihigo, said this on Thursday at the WHO Africa online press briefing on ramping up preparedness for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Africa.

Mihigo stated that there was a need to ensure an equitable and timely distribution of the vaccines.

Responding to a question from The PUNCH, Mihigo said, “We will definitely need to vaccinate between 60 to 70 per cent of the African population.

“So, if you consider that we have about 1.2 to 1.3 billion people on the African continent and you take 60 per cent of that with the assumption that you will need maybe two doses per population, we are talking about close to 1.3 to 1.4 billion vaccine doses that will be needed to immunise 60 per cent of the people in Africa to reach a herd immunity.”

Speaking further, Mihigo explained that it is not just about the cost of the vaccines but the cost of delivering them and ensuring that they get to the right locations.

He added that there were no guarantees that there would be enough supplies before the end of 2021.

The WHO official stated, “So, if we compute that number with the preliminary information that we are getting with these vaccine manufacturers because it is not only the cost of the vaccines. There are also additional costs that are needed to deliver those vaccines. Punch