CDC Says Africa Prepared To Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

By Prudence Ijah

The Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has announced that Africa is ready to receive the COVID 19 vaccine when they are privileged to.

This was disclosed on Wednesday in a statement by Africa Center for Disease Control at the end of its webinar, which had in attendance officials of the African Centre for Diseases Control; Gatefield; the Global Health Advocacy amongst others.

The Africa CDC recommended that African countries should continue the rollout of the vaccine.

According to Africa CDC, “the success of the vaccine roll out may be dampened by the spread of disinformation which in turn can lead to mistrust of public institutions.”

The Nigeria Country Representative of Resolve to Save Lives, Dr. Emmanuel Agogo, highlighted some reasons for Africans having double mind in taking the vaccine. He urged the media to take responsibility by enlightening the populace.

A report released by the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to Covid-19 (PERC), out of the total of 19 countries that participated in the survey, it revealed that acceptability of Africans taking the vaccine is Morocco (91%), South Africa (61%), Zimbabwe (61%), Zambia (53%), Mozambique (75%), Egypt (78%), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (52%).

Hoeever, the roll out of the vaccine has being encouraging in Nigeria while the number of people ready to take the vaccine can be increased through dedicated information from the media.

Dr. Ouma presented that the African Taskforce for Coronavirus (AFTCOR) is determined based on evidence, that the benefits of the vaccines outweigh its risks.

The webinar had a pot pouri of journalists that includes Hopewell Chin’ono,(investigative journalist from Zimbabwe); senior science reporter, Sunday Times; Vuyo Mkize, health writer Dr. Laz Ude Eze, AIT television host; Tanya Farber, senior science reporter, Sunday Times; Vuyo Mkize, health writer, City Press; and Elizabeth Merab, health and science journalist, Nation Media Group, who shared their experiences covering the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccines.