Swift action at onset of pandemic ‘a beacon of light’
AFRICA might be the stepchild when it comes to global Covid-19 vaccine inequality, but the continent should be commended for doing a good job in its handling of the pandemic.
The Western world expected millions upon millions of Africans to perish because of the virus; ironically, those mass deaths were seen in the “developed world”, the same developed world that has hoarded lifesaving vaccines.
Despite the spread of Covid-19 to all countries in Africa within three months, country-reported case counts showed that the pandemic spread much slower on the continent than in the rest of the world.
According to The Lancet, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) started monitoring the pandemic and aggregating event-based surveillance data reported by the AU member states before the first reported cases on the continent.
The Africa CDC used the Covid-19 epidemiology, testing, and public health and social measure data to provide the first report of the epidemiological situation on the continent, its five regions and 55 countries.
African leaders acted swiftly, decisively and timeously as soon as the first cases of the then little-known virus first emerged on the continent’s shores in February last year, a move which was key to quickly stemming the spread of the pandemic and preventing large-scale contagion.
One could say that the continent’s experience in dealing with various other diseases such as HIV/Aids, TB, diabetes and more and South Africa having the largest HIV treatment programme in the world, has served as great guidance in handling the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the global health authority, early isolation of all cases, including mild cases, was one of the key control measures, along with early detection, early treatment and contact tracing.
African governments followed the timely and accurate epidemiological data available to them which was one of the most important tools to inform and drive the response.
The first case of Covid-19 in Africa was reported in Egypt on February 14 last year, just 14 days after the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Rwanda became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to order a total shutdown because of the coronavirus.
Other African countries followed suit, imposing lockdowns, nighttime curfews, closure of schools and restrictions in movement to curtail the spread of the virus.
By March last year, the lockdown list grew across the continent, including nations such Ghana, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Rwanda and South Africa.
In South Africa, Africa’s most impacted Covid-19 country, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke about military forces deployed to enforce the measures put in place to contain the virus: “This is a mercy mission, this is a life-restoration mission, and this is a live-saving mission and this is a life-giving mission.”
Africa versus the rest of the world
North America has recorded more than 52 million Covid-19 cases and more than a million (1 074 148) Covid19 deaths.
Europe recorded 58 781 247 cases, with 1 221 175 fatalities.
Asia recorded 75 597 591 cases and 1 119 045 deaths.
South America recorded 37 752 981 cases and 1 153 617 fatalities.
Oceania recorded 225 588 cases, with 2 894 fatalities in the region.
According to the latest figures by Covid-19-tracking website Worldometers, Africa registered just over 8.3 million Covid-19 infections and 210 212 fatalities by September 29.
In comparison to the rest of the world, the continent has managed to stave off millions of possible infections and deaths, despite limited resources, and a constrained health system.
Misinformation and hesitancy
According to a July report by The Conversation, new research suggests that South Africans in particular were more likely to trust scientific sources such as doctors and the WHO than their own government when it came to credible information regarding Covid-19.
The report revealed that despite Africa’s relatively low numbers of positive cases and deaths, most South Africans disapproved of the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Vaccine inequality
After the WHO recently raised the alarm on the slow pace of the vaccine roll-out on the continent, the race is now on to vaccinate a large portion of the population, to avert a possible fourth and fifth wave of infections but, sadly, Africa remains at the mercy of other countries.
WHO says that at the current rate, the continent will not meet its target of vaccinating 10% of the continental population by the end of the year.