India AstraZeneca shot delay could be ‘catastrophic’ for Africa, health official says
India’s temporary hold on major exports of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shot will undermine Africa’s vaccination plans, and could have a “catastrophic” impact if extended, the head of the continent’s disease control body said.
India decided to delay big exports of the shots made in its territory by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to make sure it could meet local demand, two sources told Reuters last week.
The hold “will definitely impact our ability to continuously vaccinate people,” the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, was quoted as saying by Reuters in Addis Ababa.
The African Union had planned to vaccinate 30-35 percent of the continent’s population by the end of the year he said, adding that delays could cause the target to be missed.
Ghana has so far received 600,000 of the 2.4 million AstraZeneca shots it was due to get through COVAX by the end of May.
It has been told that more shots will only arrive in June, Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, head of the vaccine roll out, told Reuters.
“To be so reliant on one manufacturer is a massive concern,” a UN health official involved in the rollout in Africa told Reuters.
The AU’s target primarily relies on supplies from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, through which 64 poorer countries including many in Africa are supposed to get doses from the SII. COVAX aims to provide enough shots for African countries to inoculate at least 20 percent of their populations.
“If the delay continues, I hope it’s a delay and not a ban, that would be catastrophic for meeting our vaccinations schedule,” Nkengasong said.
On Monday, Johnson & Johnson announced it would supply the AU with up to 400 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Delivery of those doses is due to begin in the third quarter of this year and will continue through 2022.
Those doses are separate from the GAVI/WHO-backed global COVAX facility.
Nkengasong said on Thursday the AU has “pivoted” towards the J&J shot in part as a result of the delay in the delivery of AstraZeneca shots, and also because it is a single-dose shot.
The J&J doses will begin to arrive in June or July, which will ease any shortage caused by the delay in the AstraZeneca doses, Nkengasong said. The gap until the arrival of the J&J doses is a concern, he added.