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, September 16th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total cases: Over 8 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (8,096,504). This accounts for 3.6% of total cases reported globally.
- Total recoveries: Over 7.4 million people have recovered, (7,409,626). This accounts for 92% of the total cases reported in Africa.
- Total deaths: Over 204,000 deaths have been reported (204,821). 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 63% of all cases reported in Africa.
- South Africa: 35% of total cases (2,869,201)
- Morocco : 11% of total cases (910,991)
- Tunisia: 9% of total cases (696,279)
- Libya: 4% of total cases (327,308)
- Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (327,066)
- Case Fatality Rate (CFR): this week, 24 countries (44% of Member States), are reporting a CFR higher than the global average of 2.1%.
- 3 countries (Egypt, Somalia and Sudan) are reporting a CFR higher than 5%.
- 78% of Member States(43 countries) experienced the 3rd COVID-19 wave. 31 (72%) MS are experiencing a more severe 3rd wave.
- Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Equatorial Guinea) is experiencing a 3rd wave.
- Seven countries (Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia and Tunisia) are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave. 4 (67%) MS are experiencing a more severe 4th wave.
- Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Egypt) is experiencing a 4th wave.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | VARIANTS OF CONCERN (VOC)
- 43 countries are now reporting the Alpha (B.1.1.7) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State has reported this variant.
- 37 countries are now reporting the Beta (B.1.351) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member State has reported this variant.
- 37 countries are now reporting the Delta (B.1.617.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Ethiopia) has reported 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 36 (6 – 12 September 2021), compared to the previous epidemiological week 35 (30 August – 5 September 2021):
- New cases: A total of 133,936 new cases were reported in Africa. This is a 20% decrease from the previous week.
- The highest proportion of new cases is from the Northern region (41%). The other regions are as follows:
- Southern region (36%)
- Eastern region (11%)
- Western region (10%)
- Central region (2%)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
- South Africa (38,250)
- Morocco (20,562)
- Tunisia (19,635)
- Libya (8,424)
- Ethiopia (8,120)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
- Seychelles (386)
- Tunisia (238)
- Botswana (206)
- Libya (174)
- Cabo verde (170)
- New deaths: A total of 3,454 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 4,680 from the previous week. This represents a 26% 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, (16 August – 12 September 2021):
- New cases: There has been an overall 14% average decrease in new cases reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a regional breakdown:
- 5% increase in the Central region
- 17% decreasein the Southernregion
- 14% decrease in the Northern region
- 7% decrease in the Eastern region
- 4% decrease in the Western region
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Egypt : 46% average increase
- Ethiopia: 15% average increase
- DR Congo: 22% average decrease
- Kenya: 20% average decrease
- South Africa:13% average decrease
- Nigeria: 5% average decrease
- New deaths: There has been an overall 14% average decrease in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Nigeria : 58% average increase
- DR Congo: 39% average increase
- Ethiopia: 36% average increase
- Egypt: 18% average increase
- Kenya: 3% average increase
- South Africa: 11% average decrease
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- To date, over 69 million COVID-19 tests (69,589,214) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
- Over 1.4 million new tests, (1,404,088), were reported for epidemiological week 36 (6 – 12 September 2021).
- This is a 5% decrease from the previous week when 1,480,137 tests were reported.
- The cumulative positivity rate is 11.6% and the test-per-case ratio is 8.6, similar to a positivity rate of 11.7% and test-per-case ratio is 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 conducted IPC virtual training on 15th September 2021 in collaboration with WHO Afro and Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) on “5 steps approach on implementation of IPC intervention for healthcare workers’ protection”. A total of 502 participants were trained on the English session (Arabic & Portuguese interpretation were provided).
- Africa CDC is conducting IPC virtual training on 16th September 2021 in collaboration with WHO Afro and Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) on “5 steps approach on implementation of IPC intervention for healthcare workers’ protection” in French.
ANNOUNCEMENT – Briefing from the Mission in Geneva
The leaders behind the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), African Union Special Envoy Mr Strive Masiyiwa, the Director of the Africa CDC, Dr John Nkengasong, the President of the African Export-Import Bank, Prof Benedict Oramah, and Dr Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, formed a delegation to Geneva to discuss the way forward on COVID-19 vaccine equity.
From 13-15 September 2021, they met with the leaders of key AVAT partners, including the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the leaders of its partners in the COVAX initiative, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Dr Seth Berkley) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Dr Richard Hatchett), as well as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The focus of the discussions was on approaches to remove barriers and increase access to COVID-19 vaccines for Africa to meet the continental goal for vaccination set by the African Union Bureau of Heads of State and Government, as well as on the collaboration between the partners. During the high-level meetings, the participants also discussed the next steps towards sustainable continental manufacturing of vaccines as a critical prerequisite for Africa’s long-term health security.
In a joint press conference after the meetings, the AVAT leaders and their partners issued an urgent call for speedy action on vaccine equity, including measures to secure equitable access, which will allow Africa to move from only slightly above 3 per cent fully vaccinated to at least 70 per cent within a year, and to avoid practices that discriminate based on vaccination status until equitable access to vaccines can be created.
The AVAT pools vaccine demand of the African Union Member States to complement the vaccines available through COVAX and other sources and enable all Member States to reach the continental vaccination target. Deliveries of vaccines have started in August and will continue on a regular basis to those Member States that have ordered vaccines through the AVAT.
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
- With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of 15 September, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total vaccine doses supplied: 167.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 53 Member States.
- Total vaccine doses administered: 122.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 73.29% of the total supply available in Africa.
- Coverage: 3.6% 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 | 37.6million | 100% | 46.23% |
| South Africa | 18.7 million | 84.14% | 18.28% |
| Egypt | 11.9 million | 100% | 4.15% |
| Tunisia | 6.9 million | 100% | 19.51% |
| Nigeria | 5.9 million | 56.11% | 0.83% |
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 mechanism with support from the World Bank.
AVAT DELIVERIES
- The last batch of the August deliveries were made to Gambia (52,800), Mozambique (100,800), Benin (52,800), Namibia (108,00), Senegal (158,400).
- This brings the total deliveries to about 4.4 million doses of Johnson and Johnson doses in 26 African Union Member states.
DONATIONS FROM NORWAY
- The second deliveries from a pledge of 5 million doses to be donated to COVAX by Norway have arrived. These doses of AstraZeneca were donated to Ghana (98,400), Guinea (74,400), Mali (46,000) Central African Republic (80,160).
DONATIONS FROM DENMARK
- As part of its pledge to deliver 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, a second batch of AstraZeneca doses have been delivered to Kenya (358,700) Mali, (43,200).
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.
