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, November 25th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total cases : Over 8.6 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (8,614,525). This accounts for 3.3% of total cases reported globally.
- Total recoveries: Over 8 million people have recovered (8,060,459). This accounts for 94% of the total cases reported in Africa.
- Total deaths: Over 222,000 deaths have been reported (222,254). This results ina cumulative case fatality rate (CFR) of 2.6%,and accounts for 4.3% of deaths reported globally.
- The following five countries account for 61% of all cases reported in Africa.
- South Africa: 34% of total cases (2,950,035)
- Morocco: 11% of total cases (949,263)
- Tunisia: 8% of total cases (716,702)
- Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (370,712)
- Libya: 4% of total cases (369,455)
- 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%.
- 84% of Member States(46 countries) experienced the 3rd COVID-19 wave. 34 (74%) MS are experiencing a more severe 3rd wave.
- Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is experiencing a 3rd wave.
- Eleven countries (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Eritrea, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Somalia and Tunisia) are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave. 4 (36%) MS are experiencing a more severe 4th wave.
- Since the last briefing, two additional Member States (Eritrea and Mauritania) are experiencing a 4th wave.
- One country (Mauritius) is experiencing a 5th COVID-19 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 is reporting this variant.
- 41 countries are now reporting the Beta (B.1.351) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is reporting this variant.
- 43 countries are now reporting the Delta (B.1.617.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, ONE (Comoros) 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 46 (15 – 21 November 2021), compared to the previous epidemiological week 45 (8 – 14 November 2021):
- New cases: A total of 24,474 new cases were reported in Africa. This is a 11% decrease from the previous week.
- The highest proportion of new cases is from the Northern region (51%). The other regions are as follows:
- Southern region (21%)
- Eastern region (19%)
- Western region (5%)
- Central region (4%)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
- Egypt (6,436)
- South Africa (3,923)
- Libya (3,155)
- Ethiopia (1,378)
- Sudan (1,125)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
- Comoros (82)
- Mauritius (59)
- Eswatini (27)
- Cabo Verde (26)
- Gabon (25)
- New deaths: A total of 973 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 1,148 from the previous week. This represents a 15% 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, (25 October – 21 November 2021):
- New cases: There has been an overall 6% average decrease in new cases reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a regional breakdown:
- 8% increase in the Southern region
- 8% decrease in the Easternregion
- 7%decreasein the Westernregion
- 2% decrease in the Northern region
- 2% decrease in the Central region
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- DR Congo: 21% average increase
- South Africa: 15% average increase
- Egypt: 1% average increase
- Ethiopia: 18% average decrease
- Kenya: 16% average decrease
- Nigeria: 15% average decrease
- New deaths: There has been an overall 8% average decrease in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Kenya: 102% average increase
- DRC: 100% average increase
- Nigeria: 83% average increase
- Egypt: 9% average increase
- South Africa: 25% average decrease
- Ethiopia: 19% average decrease
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- To date, over 81 million COVID-19 tests (81,579,1304) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
- Over 798,000 new tests (798,228) were reported for epidemiological week 46 (15 – 21 November 2021).
- This is a 15% decrease from the previous week when 941,758 tests were reported.
- The cumulative positivity rate is 10.6% and the test-per-case ratio is 9.5, similar to a positivity rate of 10.7% and test-per-case ratio of 9.3 in the previous week.
- Uganda is the only MS that is reporting a test positivity rate higher than 12% this week.
CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR MEMBER STATES
- In-country IPC Step-down Training for all the districts in Uganda is ongoing (24th – 26th November 2021).
- 2nd session of the IPC webinar 10th series held last week on “Waste Management during the COVID-19 pandemic”, 967 participants were trained on English sessions with Arabic and Portuguese interpretation. A French session takes place today.
ANNOUNCEMENT
On the 06th & 07th December 2021, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), African Medicines Agency (AMA) African Union Development Agency NEPAD (AUDA NEPAD), and Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) will be convening a high-level stakeholder’s engagement meeting to discuss the Progress made so far on implementing the Partnerships for Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa (PAVM).
The 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union’s Executive Council decision EX.CL/Dec. 1129 (XXXIX) recognized PAVM as the coordinating mechanism and its leadership of the development of a continental vaccine manufacturing strategy and a framework for action.
The four core mandates of the PAVM are to:
- Steward a continental strategy that maintains scale and cost-competitiveness of local manufacturing and promotes equity and security for all
- Support partnerships to create a conducive business environment that will encourage the emergence of a thriving manufacturing base
- Play intermediation and partner role between Member States and the global community of supporters on an as-needed basis
- Communicate updates and serve as the central source of information for Africa vaccine manufacturing
The PAVM is now an effective entity that has started to articulate a detailed strategy (“Framework for Action”) for the years to come and, at the same time, deliver on these core mandates. It thus is and will continue to be at the Centre of the efforts to develop localized vaccine manufacturing in Africa, supporting all stakeholders – AU Member States, financiers, and manufacturers.
OBJECTIVES
- Update on progress made so far on the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa
- Agree on an AU-endorsed approach to facilitate regulatory approval of vaccines produced in Africa
- Discuss critical market shaping needs once African countries produce vaccines
- Build on the momentum of vaccine manufacture hubs and pilot a drug API-final drug product Hub program
From the 14th to the 16th December 2021, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the African Union will be hosting the inaugural Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2021) virtually.
CPHIA 2021 comes at a critical time on the continent and in the world. COVID-19 has strained health systems globally, and with limited access to vaccines in Africa, the pandemic has laid bare deep inequities in access to healthcare and scientific innovations. CPHIA will create a unique platform where African researchers, policymakers and stakeholders can share perspectives and research findings in public health, while ushering in a new era of strengthened scientific collaboration and innovation across the continent.
A number of heads of state and leading scientific experts are already confirmed for the event, which will focus on lessons learned from COVID-19 and how the continent charts a new path forward for public health. Media registration is now open at www.cphia2021.com
- We will also be having a 2-hour pre-conference media workshop on the 13th December designed to develop the capacity of journalists to translate and communicate science related data and create an enabling environment for consistent reporting on public health in Africa. If you haven’t registered for this, kindly do so. A Zoom registration link has been shared on the chats (https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lbjt8W-KTX6-itsR_67YwA)
- We hope you will join us to share and learn progress made, best practices in public health interventions and the latest in innovative research.
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
- With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of 24th November, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total vaccine doses supplied: 403 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 54 Member States.
- Total vaccine doses administered: 221.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 55. 01 of the total supply available in Africa.
- Coverage: 6.66% 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 | 47 million | 91.97% | 61.23% |
| Egypt | 34.6 million | 45.37% | 12.46% |
| South Africa | 24.9 million | 78.7% | 23.66% |
| Algeria | 11.3 million | 51% | 11.16% |
| Tunisia | 9.9 million | 94.5% | 33.05% |
More details are provided on our dashboard (https://africacdc.org/covid-19-vaccination/)
- Eritrea is the remaining AU Member States yet to start COVID-19 vaccine roll out.
- AVAT J&J DELIVERIES
From 17th to 24th, 7.2 million doses of J&J doses were distributed to 15 AU Member states. Kenya, Angola, Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, Zambia, Mauritius, uganda, Congo Republic, Côte d’ivoire, Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Lesotho.
The total number of AVAT deliveries (J&J) to 33 AU member states totals about 21.7 M doses.
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, Uganda, Zambia, DRC, Burkina Faso,Sao Tome and Principe, and Burundi. Also, 12, 000 doses were delivered to the African Union. Till date AVAT deliveries stand at about 22.4M doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
