Transitioning from pandemic, Africa will have to deal with virus: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Africa is ‘eliminating the pandemic phase’ as countries lift COVID-19 restrictions worldwide, adding that the continent now has to ‘manage the presence of the virus on a long-term basis’.

‘The pandemic is moving into a different phase. We think that we’re moving now, especially with the vaccination expected to increase, into what might become a kind of endemic living with the virus,’ WHO’s Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said. According to the UN health body, infection rates in Africa could be at least seven times higher than official statistics, with death rates two to three times higher.

Due to lack of access to testing supplies and underreporting of COVID-19 cases, the WHO conceded it had ‘surveillance system’ problems. In November, South Africa reported the existence of Omicron, which resulted in a large-scale shutdown of air services to the country by major economies in the West. Omicron is now the predominant variant worldwide.

There has been an increase in cases of BA.2 sublineage in recent months according to the WHO. This is because it accounts for over 93 percent of all Coronavirus cases worldwide. Despite this, the Omicron variant is believed to be less lethal and is associated with fewer deaths and hospitalizations. The WHO warned, however, that Covid was a dangerous disease, and people should avoid getting it.

Ursula von der Leyen, CEO of the European Commission, said the bloc would increase vaccination efforts in Africa. This is because the supply was not an issue despite millions of people remaining unvaccinated. However, Ursula von der Leyen made the point that Africa’s problem was that of ‘absorption’.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, said: ‘It is true that vaccination rates in Africa are low, and a major reason is a limited communication within the continent’. Le Drian maintained that Africa faced ‘logistical obstacles’ to vaccine distribution.