COVID-19: Vaccinating Africa

How did this ambitious initiative come about?

When COVID hit last year, we had to pivot, like so many other organisations. We pivoted by making funds available to support many partners across the continent. First, we tried to assist frontline workers to get the equipment they needed to be safe and to be able to assist others, such as PPEs (personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves] and tests. Second, we focused on sustaining young people so that they can continue to learn and keep education going. Third was to focus on what we normally do, which is to support micro and small businesses so that they could stay alive and sustain themselves – or could switch and find some other means of being productive. Mastercard Foundation is supporting African vaccination plans – not creating parallel systems.

It was right around then that we started a program with the Africa CDC. As you recall, back then, we didn’t have vaccines. What we had, but in short supply, were tests. We started a partnership to help the Africa CDC acquire two million tests and distribute them across the continent and paying 14,000 healthcare workers. At that time, it was all about testing and contact tracing and enabling healthcare workers to do just that. We helped set up lab facilities, making sure labs were productive and functioning.

This (new partnership) was the natural corollary, particularly when we saw that the pandemic was going to go on. We started out the year being so hopeful that vaccines were coming – and then we see this huge gap. We started asking ourselves what we could do? What must we do just to address this inequity and also to help economies get going. We just hope that this is also an inspiration for the G7 and for many countries to step up even more to support the continent.

What do you hope the G7 will do, especially with regards to vaccine rollout, equity and the things you’ve mentioned that could make a massive difference to lives of Africans?

There are four things. What we want to see is action on commitments. (The G7 pledged to provide at least 870 million doses to low-income countries.) We hope the action coalesces in four areas.

Some countries have more than adequate supply of vaccines for their population. We very much want to encourage and urge them to reallocate whatever is excess to Africa, because that would help our vaccination efforts massively. Second, get behind vaccination efforts. Support the countries where they may be working and have relationships to help with the deployment of mass vaccinations. As you know, that’s a huge logistical feat which will take resources.

Third, many of the G7 countries are in a unique position to support vaccine manufacturing on the continent. They have the scientists, the technology and the willingness to partner. We urge them to accelerate those partnerships. Fourth – because in times of trouble we look to institutions – we encourage the G7 to step up, get behind and invest in strong public health institutions like the Africa CDC.

I know a lot of these summits are seen as talk shops. But to pursue your point on the continent manufacturing its own vaccines. Your thoughts on whether or not that’s an achievable goal?

I think it can be – and that it will be an achievable goal. There are already sites across the continent which are manufacturing vaccines, whether for Ebola or for childhood immunisation. So the capacity, nascent as it may be, and perhaps not at the scale we may need, is already present. What is required is investment. What’s really encouraging is that a few months ago the African Union convened a major meeting around building a partnership for vaccine manufacturing – and there was so much interest from companies, from vaccine manufacturers, from countries, from international partners. The Africa CDC is at the forefront of consultations into how best to develop a framework, so that the continent can take a holistic, coordinated view on vaccine manufacturing.

A number of African countries have expressed interest, whether it’s in mRNA technology or setting up ‘fill and finish’ sites like you have in South Africa  (to complete the process of vaccine production, using imported materials) to be able to do more and to do it at a higher scale. That’s something encouraging, and our part in all of this is to look at the workforce development that’s required.

Is the partnership being coordinated with WHO as well as the Africa CDC?

Our primary partner is the Africa CDC. And the Africa CDC, throughout this pandemic, has been in close coordination with the WHO and with Covax and with a number of organisations like the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Export-Import Bank, all of whom have been critical actors coming together, collaborating and playing their role – around financing or creating a platform for countries to aggregate purchase of medical supplies. Everyone played a role.

That is one of the most powerful stories that we have observed this past year – how the continent came together so quickly. They did not wait. (Africa) came together quickly and coordinated its response. That’s leadership, and that is another reason we wanted to get behind the Africa CDC. It proves that through adversity on the continent, we can come together.

For clarity, the $1.3 billion is over three years to deliver the vaccines. It will be quite an achievement. Just take us through the plan, if possible.

I can elaborate a little bit more on the four areas of focus – the architecture for this initiative. The first two is where the 80 percent of our $1.3 billion will be directed: acquisition and deployment of vaccines. Africa CDC, as I’ve mentioned, will start consultations with counties to understand the number of vaccines that they have and vaccines they will be requiring, and how to stand up their vaccination campaign. What are the gaps in implementation? Is it around healthcare worker training? Is it around setting up vaccination centers? We need to really understand where they are so that we can support and augment their efforts.

Concurrently, Africa CDC, through a competitive process, will start to recruit implementing partners across all the countries, while Mastercard Foundation will be purchasing the vaccines. So that’s where most of those funds will be directed.

So the first point of call will be to establish where each country is at before proceeding forward, is that right?

That’s correct. Because we don’t want to create a parallel system. We want to support, augment and, where we can, accelerate countries’ own vaccination plans.

****

Source: allAfrica.com (https://allafrica.com/) special to The Independent publications.