‘Only 2 per cent of 5.7bn administered jabs given in Africa’

Africa has been ldquoleft behind by the rest of the worldrdquo as only two per cent of the more than 57 billion COVID19 vaccine doses administered globally have been administered there the head of the World Health Organization WHO said warning the world against vaccine inequityThe WHOrsquos aim is to vaccinate at least 40 per cent of the population of every country by the end of this year and 70 per cent by the middle of next year However only two countries in Africa have reached the 40per cent target the lowest of any region Xinhua news agency quoted WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as sayingldquoThatrsquos not because African countries donrsquot have the capacity or experience to roll out COVID19 vaccines Itrsquos because they have been left behind by the rest of theworldrdquo he saidLast year the WHO and its partners launched COVAX the global initiative to ensure fair and equitable access to COVID19 vaccines To date it has delivered more than 260 million vaccine doses to 141 countriesHowever COVAX has also faced several challenges which according to the WHO were triggered by manufacturers prioritising bilateral deals and many highincome countries tying up the global supply of vaccinesAccording to John Nkengasong director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who also attended the briefing less than 35 per cent of Africans have been vaccinated against COVID19 which is far short of the official target of 60 per centldquoThis leaves people at high risk of disease and death exposed to a deadly virus against which many other people around the world enjoy protectionrdquo Tedros saidHealth workers in France to face suspensionHealth care workers in France face suspension from their jobs starting Wednesday if they havenrsquot been vaccinated against COVID19 With about 300000 workers still not vaccinated some hospitals fear staff shortages will add to their strain Vaccines are now compulsory for medical care home care and emergency workers in France and Wednesday is the deadline for such staff to have had at least one shotEU to give another 200 mn doses to AfricaThe European Union is committing 200 million more Coronavirus vaccine doses to Africa to help curb the pandemic on a global scale European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the new donation to be fully delivered by the middle of next year comes on top of 250 million already pledged and underscores the EU resolve to boost the challenge lowincome nations are facing Von der Leyen called it an ldquoinvestment in solidarity and it is an investment also in global healthrdquoCanada crosses the 155 mncases markCanada has reported 3955 new COVID19 cases bringing the cumulative total to 1555121 with 27262 deaths according to local media Canadarsquos total COVID19 cases surpassed 15 million on September 1 Meanwhile Alberta a province with a population of 44 million reported 1434 new cases and nine fatalities on Tuesday The province now has 18265 active cases and 822 hospitalisations including 212 ICU admissions the Xinhua news agency reportedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliabilitsy and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever