This step forward – still insufficient – was made possible thanks to a WHO and European Union project that has enabled nearly 30 percent, the average for the African continent, to be immunized against Covid-19.

A WHO communiqué underlines that at the beginning of 2022, vaccination coverage against SARS-CoV-2 was less than five percent in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Tanzania.

Now, a year and a half later, 34 million people in these 16 African countries participating in the program have received two doses of the immunogens.

The aim of the project was to prioritize the most vulnerable people and communities, the international agency emphasized in its statement.

“Nearly 26 million older people, 38 percent of the total in all countries, completed their primary vaccination series, providing crucial protection against Covid-19,” the statement said.

mh/ybc