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, December 9th 2021, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total cases: Over 8.7 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (8,797,227). This accounts for 3.3% of total cases reported globally.
- Total recoveries: Over 8.1 million people have recovered (8,152,116). This accounts for 93% of the total cases reported in Africa.
- Total deaths: Over 224,000 deaths have been reported (224,231). 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 (3,071,064)
- Morocco: 11% of total cases (950,946)
- Tunisia: 8% of total cases (718,696)
- Libya: 4% of total cases (376,378)
- Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (372,462)
- 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.
- Twelve countries (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Eritrea, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Somalia. South Africa and Tunisia) are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave. 4 (33%) MS are experiencing a more severe 4th wave.
- Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (South Africa) is experiencing a 4th wave.
- One country (Mauritius) is experiencing a 5th COVID-19 wave.
- Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State is experiencing a 5th 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
- 44 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.
- 11 Member States are reporting the Omicron GR/484A (B.1.1.529) VOC first detected in Botswana/Hong Kong/South Africa
Since the last briefing, SEVEN additional Member State has reported this variant.
- South Africa
- Botswana
- Nigeria
- Ghana
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Senegal
- Tunisia
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Zimbabwe
More details are provided in our dashboard:
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | ONE-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
- The following are trends for epidemiological week 48 (29 November – 5 December 2021), compared to the previous epidemiological week 47 (22 – 28 November 2021):
- New cases: A total of 98,850 new cases were reported in Africa. This is an 88% increase from the previous week.
- The highest proportion of new cases is from the Southern region (79%). The other regions are as follows:
- Northern region (14%)
- Eastern region (3%)
- Western region (2%)
- Central region (2%)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
- South Africa (70,288)
- Egypt (6,444)
- Zimbabwe (5,055)
- Libya (3,259)
- Tunisia (1,582)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
- South Africa (169)
- Eswatini (115)
- Mauritius (84)
- Libya (67)
- Zimbabwe (48)
- New deaths: A total of 1,076 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 943 from the previous week. This represents a 14% increase 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, (8 November – 5 December 2021):
- New cases: There has been an overall 44% average increase in new cases reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a regional breakdown:
- 169% increase in the Southern region
- 17% increase in the Central region
- 7% increase in the Western region
- 2% increase in the Northern region
- 11% decrease in the Eastern region
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- South Africa: 233% average increase
- DR Congo: 112% average increase
- Kenya: 2% average increase
- Ethiopia: 17% average decrease
- Nigeria: 5% average decrease
- Egypt: 0.1% average decrease
- New deaths: There has been an overall 1% average decrease in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Nigeria: 116% average increase
- Kenya: 72% average increase
- South Africa: 20% average increase
- Egypt: 3% average decrease
- DRC: 23% average decrease
- Ethiopia: 7% average decrease
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- To date, over 83 million COVID-19 tests (83,678,860) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
- Over 970,000 new tests (974,896) were reported for epidemiological week 48 (29 November – 5 December 2021).
- This is a 14% decrease from the previous week when 1.135,163 tests were reported.
- The cumulative positivity rate is 10.5% and the test-per-case ratio is 9.5, similar to a positivity rate of 10.5% and test-per-case ratio of 9.5 in the previous week.
- 11% of Member States (6 countries) are reporting a test positivity rate higher than 12% this week:
- Botswana
- Eswatini
- DR Congo
- Sao Tome and Principe
- South Africa
- Zimbabwe
CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR MEMBER STATES
- 5th session of the IPC webinar 10th series held this week Wednesday on “The Use of Data for Surveillance and IPC Improvement during Outbreaks” More than 500 participants were trained on the English session with Arabic and Portuguese interpretation. The French session will take place today.
ANNOUNCEMENT
- The PAVM meeting convened on the 06th & 07th December 2021 by the Africa CDC, AUDA NEPAD, and CFTA to discuss the Progress made so far on implementing the Partnerships for Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa was a successful. A communique is issued and will be disseminated with the outcomes.
Next week, Africa is organizing the First CPHIA and a High level Ministerial Meeting of Ministers of Health.
- From the 14th to the 16th December 2021, the 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
- Africa CDC will convene the High level meeting for Ministries of Health to discuss the adapted strategy to enhance prevention, monitoring and treatment of COVID-19 on 20 December 2021.
In accordance to Africa CDC’s mandate, and following the Adapted Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 Pandemic, the Africa CDC is currently supporting AU Member States in their response against the COVID-19 pandemic through strengthening surveillance; emergency preparedness and response; laboratory systems and networks; public health workforce and also through establishment and strengthening of National Public Health Institutes.
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
- With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of 9th December, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total vaccine doses supplied: 431.9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 54 Member States.
- Total vaccine doses administered: 245.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 56.77% of the total supply available in Africa.
- Coverage: 7.35% 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 | 47.2 million | 69.54% | 61.65% |
| Egypt | 39.8 million | 51.71% | 14.39% |
| South Africa | 26.6 million | 84.28% | 26.6% |
| Ethiopia | 11.7 million | 70.44% | 11.7% |
| Algeria | 11.3 million | 51.02% | 11.3% |
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 2 – 8 December, 2.6 million doses of J&J doses were distributed to 5 AU Member states. Lesotho, Madagascar, Botswana, Mozambique, Ghana.
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, Burundi. Also, 12, 000 doses were delivered to the African Union.
732,000 doses of the same were delivered to 6 Caribbean countries; Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Belize, Antigua &Barbuda. Till date AVAT deliveries stand at about 22.4M doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
