Welcome Remarks
- Good morning from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, and thank you to members of the press for joining today’s briefing.
- At this time, I will share updates on the COVID-19 situation on the continent, including our response efforts and updates on the vaccine situation.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | OVERVIEW
- As of today, October 7th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total cases: Over 8.3 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (8,363,382). This accounts for 3.5% of total cases reported globally.
- Total recoveries: Over 7.7 million people have recovered (7,709,460). This accounts for 92% of the total cases reported in Africa.
- Total deaths: Over 213,000 deaths have been reported (213,093). This results ina cumulative case fatality rate (CFR) of 2.5%,and accounts for 4.4% of deaths reported globally.
- The following five countries account for 62% of all cases reported in Africa.
- South Africa: 35% of total cases (2,908,768)
- Morocco: 11% of total cases (936,693)
- Tunisia: 8% of total cases (709,001)
- Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (351,388)
- Libya: 4% of total cases (343,932)
- Case Fatality Rate (CFR): this week, 27 countries (49% of Member States), are reporting a CFR higher than the global average of 2%.
- 3 countries (Egypt, Somalia and Sudan) are reporting a CFR higher than 5%.
- 80% of Member States(44 countries) experienced the 3rd COVID-19 wave. 35 (80%) MS are experiencing a more severe 3rd wave.
- Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is experiencing a 3rd wave.
- Seven countries (Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia and Tunisia) are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave. 4 (57%) MS are experiencing a more severe 4th wave.
- Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is experiencing a 4th wave.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | VARIANTS OF CONCERN (VOC)
- 45 countries are now reporting the Alpha (B.1.1.7) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State has reported this variant.
- 39 countries are now reporting the Beta (B.1.351) VOC.
Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Ethiopia) has reported this variant.
- 40 countries are now reporting the Delta (B.1.617.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is reporting this variant.
- 2 Member States are reporting the Gamma (GR/501Y.V3/P.1+P.1.1+P.1.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State has reported this variant.
More details are provided in our dashboard:
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | ONE-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
- The following are trends for epidemiological week 39 (27 September – 3 October 2021), compared to the previous epidemiological week 38 (20 – 26 September 2021):
- New cases: A total of 67,532 new cases were reported in Africa. This is a 13% decrease from the previous week.
- The highest proportion of new cases is from the Southern region (32%). The other regions are as follows:
- Northern region (30%)
- Eastern region (19%)
- Central region (12%)
- Western region (7%)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
- South Africa (9,479)
- Ethiopia (6,955)
- Morocco (6,027)
- Egypt (5,173)
- Libya (4,668)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
- Seychelles (447)
- Lesotho (207)
- Sao Tome and Principe (141)
- Botswana (128)
- Gabon (125)
- New deaths: A total of 2,531 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 2,671 from the previous week. This represents a 5% decrease in new deaths from the previous week.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | FOUR-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
- The following are trends over the past 4 epidemiological weeks, (6 September – 3 October 2021):
- New cases: There has been an overall 20% average decrease in new cases reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a regional breakdown:
- 31% increase in the Central region
- 25% decrease in the Western region
- 24%decreasein the Southernregion
- 22% decrease in the Northern region
- 4% decrease in the Eastern region
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Egypt: 25% average increase
- South Africa: 35% average decrease
- Kenya: 25% average decrease
- Nigeria: 19% average decrease
- DR Congo: 12% average decrease
- Ethiopia: 5% average decrease
- New deaths: There has been an overall 13% average decrease in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Egypt: 44% average increase
- Ethiopia: 28% average increase
- Nigeria: 2% average increase
- South Africa: 20% average decrease
- DR Congo: 18% average decrease
- Kenya: 1 average decrease
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- To date, over 73 million COVID-19 tests (73,186,997) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
- Over 1 million new tests (1,055,280) were reported for epidemiological week 39 (27 September – 3 October 2021).
- This is a 14% decrease from the previous week when 1,230,496 tests were reported.
- The cumulative positivity rate is 11.4% and the test-per-case ratio is 8.8, compared to a positivity rate of 11.7% and test-per-case ratio of 8.6 in the previous week.
- 9% of Member States(5 countries) are reporting test positivity rates higher than 12%.
CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR MEMBER STATES
- Africa CDC has continued to support Member States on IPC through the weekly virtual training. This week’s session focused on “Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection in the context of COVID-19”.
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
- With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of 29 September, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total vaccine doses supplied: 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 53 Member States.
- Total vaccine doses administered: 156.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 76.77% of the total supply available in Africa.
- Coverage: 4.57% of the population has been fully vaccinated on the continent.
- The following five countries have administered the most vaccine doses in Africa.
| Country | Doses administered | % of the supply | % of Population fully vaccinated |
| Morocco | 42.7 million | 100% | 53.55% |
| South Africa | 18.5 million | 83.56% | 16.06% |
| Egypt | 19.2 million | 83.67% | 6.24% |
| Algeria | 10 million | 84.78% | 9.51% |
| Tunisia | 8.28 million | 85.6% | 26.34% |
More details are provided on our dashboard (https://africacdc.org/covid-19-vaccination/)
- Eritrea and Burundi are the 2 remaining AU Member States yet to start COVID-19 vaccine roll out. However, Burundi has placed an order for COVID-19 Vaccines through the COVAX and AVAT mechanism with support from the World Bank.
- AVAT DELIVERIES
- Till date, AVAT has delivered about 4.4 million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine to 26 member states through August 2021. These are Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia. Also, 12, 000 doses were delivered to the African Union Commission.
- 580,800 doses of the same were delivered to 6 Caribbean countries; Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Belize, Antigua & Barbuda.
- Emergency Use Authorisations :
- AstraZeneca has filled for an FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its long-acting antibody (LAAB) combination, (Produced by combining two LAABs, tixagevimab and cilgavimab) AZD7442, as a preventive for symptomatic COVID-19.
The application was supported by positive phase 3 data showing a 77% reduction in risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19, and the treatment, if cleared, would become the first LAAB product to receive an EUA for the prevention of COVID-19.
- Johnson & Johnson (J&J) submitted its application to the FDA for emergency authorization of a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine in adults 18 years and older.
The Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) application was supported by previously reported phase 3 trial data showing a booster dose of the J&J vaccine given nearly two months after a single shot conferred 94% protection against moderate-to-severe COVID-19 and 100% protection against severe COVID-19, at least two weeks’ post-booster shot.
J&J plans to submit the data to other global regulators and the World Health Organization.
- India’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, has so far not received the emergency use approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) but is likely to do so soon.
An expert panel of the global health body (SAGE) is meeting on October 5th to decide on, among other things, Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin getting the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) authorisation.
The WHO document mentions the status of Covaxin’s assessment by the WHO as “ongoing” and the decision date as “October 2021“.
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In June, Bharat Biotech’s proposal for an emergency use authorisation (EUA) of its COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, was rejected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
REMINDER: UPCOMING CONFERENCES:
- FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN AFRICA
@AfricaCDC in partnership with Global Health Strategies (GHS) is pleased to announce the hosting of the 1st International Conference on Public Health in Africa, (CPHIA 2021).
This first International Public Health Conference comes at a critical time when the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep inequities in the global health architecture and continues to significantly strain health systems across the world.
As Africa CDC calls for a New Public Health Order for Africa, we are ready to engage with the top leadership of the continent and work with other partners to drive the discussions on scientific innovations and key public health interventions for the citizens of the continent.
This 3-day virtual event will take place from 14-16 December 2021, we encourage you all, members of the media and other key stakeholders to mark your calendar and check our digital platforms for more information.www.cphia2021.com
- AFRICA CDC ONE HEALTH CONFERENCE
@AfricaCDC is pleased to announce the inaugural One Health Conference 2021.
A One Health approach is critical to address shared health threats at the human-animal-environment interface such as zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and others. This 3-day virtual event will take place from 01-03 November 2021, we encourage you all, members of the media and other key stakeholders to save the dates and visit our digital platforms for more information. https://sbs.co.za/africacdc2021/.
Increasing globalization, urban density, ease of travel, animal movement, environmental changes and habitat overlap between humans and animals, all provide opportunities for the emergence and spread of diseases that adversely impact both human and animal health, prosperity, and food security. COVID-19 and Ebola virus disease are two recent examples of how these various factors have directly impacted Africa. To combat these current outbreaks and get ahead of the next pandemic, a One Health approach must be taken.
In support of strengthening One Health across the continent, Africa CDC is holding this conference to showcase continental One Health research focusing on zoonotic disease surveillance and outbreak investigations, antimicrobial resistance, food safety, environmental health, and operational research through scientific presentations.
COVID-19 TIERED PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL MEASURES FRAMEWORK FOR AFRICA
- Link to the PHSM Tiers framework
- Africa CDC website:
- RTSL/PERC website: https://preventepidemics.org/covid19/perc/phsm/
- Completely opening or closing down countries with stringent PHSMs is no longer an option like it was at the beginning of the pandemic. Officials cannot just shut down society, but rather need layered policies appropriate for the COVID levels in-country
- The PHSM tiered framework is a proposal for Member States to use indicators and thresholds, which measure the ‘amount’ of COVID-19 in a country, to help determine which policies should be put in place.
A similar approach has been used in South Africa with their alert system.
- These PHSM tiers are based on incidence and test positivity, but the guidance published is only recommendations — we hope that Member States will use this guidance to build their own indicators, threshold and policies.
- These proposed tiers should also be balanced with secondary impacts of PHSMs such as economic burdens, food security and access to essential health services, to ensure access to essential livelihoods
- This is one of the tools that Africa CDC has developed, in partnership with Resolve to Save Lives, that supports both the Prevention and Monitoring components of the Adapted Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 Pandemic
- The purpose of PHSM tiers is to provide a framework to support clear decision-making, improve accountability and provide clear, evidence-based guidance to communities to increase healthy behavior change.
- PHSMs should also be tailored to the smallest geographical region possible, for better response to hotspots and mitigation of secondary impacts.
- Effective PHSMs are :
- Easy to understand
- Transparent
- Data-driven
- Practical
- Customized to smallest geographic region
- Collaborative
- Legal, with proper oversight
- Supported by wide dissemination of information that is easily accessible to the public
- Transparency in decision making and predictability can encourage engagement from communities, in that they will know what to expect based on data and clear decisions. This is critical to ensuring that PHSMs have value in disrupting transmission.
- Displaying and communicating the level of risk and the related PHSMs will support individual, business and community decision-making and can be adapted as vaccine rates increase or potential changes in transmission occur.
- The media has an important role to play in building trust and supporting clear, evidence-based communication with the public about what levels of PHSMs are in place, and why they change.
PHSMs will be necessary to control transmission while vaccine coverage remains low; more equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in Africa is crucial to improving coverage. For now, countries must continue to rely on PHSMs while pressing high-income countries and international mechanisms to improve vaccine supply and increase access.
