Groundwork urged for Africa effort on jabs

As many African countries work to secure supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, the importance of preparatory work for efficient distribution of the doses has been stressed.

At a meeting of African health ministers hosted by the World Health Organization on Thursday, Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said more work needs to be done in setting up systems to manage the logistics and supply chain needs for getting the vaccines to people across the continent.

Relatively few African countries have received supplies so far, and those that have done so have obtained them as a result of direct purchases from producers or donations from countries such as China and Russia.

“Africa is revving up to rollout COVID-19 vaccines. These thorough vaccine preparation plans will help ensure African countries can hit the ground running in quickly immunizing the most vulnerable people,” Moeti said of the required preparatory work.

“Meticulous planning is the key to ensuring vaccines reach all priority groups, wherever they are, in every single African country.

“Our priority must be to protect the most vulnerable from severe illness and death. Along with rolling out safe and proven vaccines, we must also work toward a diverse vaccine portfolio.”

Moeti added: “At the same time, manufacturers must be prepared to adjust to mutations of the virus, including potentially providing booster shots and adapted vaccines.”

Morocco, Egypt, Seychelles and Zimbabwe are among countries that have begun mass inoculations, and they are using a vaccine from Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm. Algeria, South Africa, Rwanda and Mauritius have also got programs underway.

Second batch on the way

Zimbabwe’s vaccination drive started on Thursday after it received a shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine, which was donated by the Chinese government. The country expects to receive a second batch of the vaccine this week.

Senegal and Equatorial Guinea last week received supplies of the same vaccine. Mass vaccinations are yet to begin in the two countries.

Most African countries are struggling to procure vaccines as they await disbursements through programs backed by the African Union and World Health Organization.

South Africa, the country with the most infections on the continent, halted a plan to use a vaccine from AstraZeneca because of concerns about its efficacy against a virus variant that has pushed up infections.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday it is disappointing that foreign ministers of the European Union had decided to prepare new sanctions against Russian citizens “under a farfetched pretext”.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said earlier in the day that the foreign ministers of the bloc had agreed to impose restrictive measures against those responsible for the “arrest, sentencing and persecution” of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The Russian ministry said in a statement it is “unacceptable” to make “unlawful and absurd” calls for the release of a Russian citizen convicted of economic crimes by a Russian court in accordance with Russian law.

“In international practice, this is called interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,” it said.

“It is only regrettable that such illegitimate instruments — ultimatums, pressure and sanctions — are rooted in the EU’s foreign policy arsenal,” the ministry added.

“The myth of the EU’s own infallibility in the field of human rights was refuted on a daily basis” by police brutality and the attack on freedom of the media, it added.

News agency Agence FrancePresse said the sanctions against Moscow would target senior officials “deemed responsible for persecuting Navalny”, using the EU’s new human rights regime adopted last year.

The agency did not name the officials but quoted Borrell as saying that the limited move looks set to disappoint those calling for a tough response against Moscow.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the sanctions were intended to send a “statement that we are not prepared to accept certain things”.

“But it is also necessary that we continue to have a dialogue with Russia,” he said.

A ‘broken record’

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko dismissed the move as a “broken record”, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

The mood toward Moscow hardened across the EU after Borrell paid a disastrous trip to Moscow this month, during which the Kremlin expelled three European diplomats, AFP said.

The bloc has already hit Russia with waves of sanctions after Crimea was incorporated into Russia following a referendum in March 2014 that Ukraine and Western countries refuse to recognize.

In October, the EU put another six officials on a blacklist over an alleged poisoning of Navalny in August.

Navalny was jailed last month after returning to Moscow from Germany, where he had spent months recovering from the alleged attack that he blames on Moscow. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied it was behind the attack.