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Malawi to miss WHO Covid vaccine target

Malawi is likely to miss a World Health Organisation (WHO) target of vaccinating 70 percent of its population by December 2022, Nation on Sunday has learnt.

The WHO set December 2022 as a deadline for African countries to vaccinate 70 percent of their population.

A woman gets her Covid-19 jab during the Ministry of Health door-to-door campaign

But with five weeks to the deadline, Malawi has only fully vaccinated 15.4 percent of its targeted 13.4 million population and 19.5 percent have taken the first dose.

To achieve the target, Malawi will have to vaccinate 54.6 percent of its population within five weeks, which health experts describe as unachievable.

President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima jointly launched the Covid-19 vaccine exercise on March 11 2021 in Zomba and Mzuzu.

Neighbouring countries are also struggling to meet the vaccine target.

Zambia, for example, has only fully vaccinated 43.3 percent of its target population and 37 percent have only taken the first dose while Zimbabwe has fully vaccinated 31.5 percent of its target population and 42.7 percent have taken the first dose.

Tanzania, which rolled out the exercise months later than Malawi due to perception issues of its former president John Magufuli, has fully vaccinated 39.9 percent of its target population and 42.9 percent have taken the first dose.

Mozambique, on the other hand, has fully vaccinated 42.2 percent of its population and 57.8 percent have taken the first dose.

Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (kuhes) epidemiology and public health professor Adamson Muula said the implication of vaccinating less people is yet to be known.

He said if the country had experienced worst outbreaks and high death rates, the low vaccine uptake would have been an issue.

Muula said: “As things stand, it is impossible to estimate the benefits of the vaccines at the population level.

“At individual level, those with asthma, heart diseases, diabetes and above 50 should ensure they are fully vaccinated.

“It would be unwise for these people to think what is going on in the rest of the community also applies to them.”

While stressing that little can be done to reverse the trend, Muula blamed low vaccine uptake on misinformation and disinformation.

His sentiments were echoed by a Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas) study which cited social media misinformation and disinformation as factors contributing to the country’s low vaccines uptake.

The study, led by Mubas senior lecturer Dr Peter Muhagama, established that some people believed Covid-19 was not real while others thought it was satanic.

In its report on Covid-19 vaccination in Africa published in October, WHO hinted that the end of the pandemic is within sight.

But the report stated that as long as Africa lags behind the rest of the world in reaching widespread protection, a dangerous gap still exists which the virus can exploit and roar back with vengeance.

The report hinted that the priority should be to shield the most vulnerable populations from the worst effects of the pandemic.

Infectious disease expert and epidemiologist Dr Titus Divala described the country’s low vaccine uptake as embarrassing considering that it faced the same wrath of the pandemic as its neighbours.

“These statistics is a clear indication that Malawi has underperformed. This is something worth reflecting about as we prepare to contain any future Covid-19 outbreak,” he said.

Divala, however, blamed rich countries for Africa’s low vaccine uptake.

He said: “When the pandemic was raging and the vaccines were most needed, rich countries were reluctant to release them.

“At the moment, the vaccines are losing popularity amid myths and declining severity of the pandemic in our communities.”

Divala played down fears of the pandemic severity, saying many people who suffered from the pandemic have developed natural immunity.

He, however, encouraged those with chronic diseases, expectant women and the elderly to go for the jab.

Currently, Malawi has cumulatively registered 88 029 cases, 84 993 recoveries, and 2 685 deaths.

According to the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 report titled ‘The Coronavirus Pandemic in Malawi: Trailing the Waves’, Malawi has prevented 8 000 Covid-19 deaths under its two-year response plan.

In a Covid-19 situation update of November 14 2022, Minister of Health Khumbize Chiponda, who is the task force co-chairperson, said the ministry will start a campaign on the vaccines as part of increasing coverage.

The eight day Covid-19 vaccine campaign, according to the minister, starts tomorrow to November 29.

“Let me also remind everyone that the Covid-19 vaccines are still available in all our public and Cham [Christian Health Association of Malawi] health facilities,” she said.

In an earlier interview, the task force co-chairperson Dr Wilfred Chalamira Nkhoma said the slow vaccination undermines the country’s ability to contain future outbreaks.

He blamed the slow Covid-19 vaccines uptake on poor awareness strategy, lack of vaccine varieties and deprived distribution.

Malawi reported its first Covid-19 case on April 1 2020. But prior to that, government on March 23 2020 closed public schools to avert the potential spread of the pandemic.

In the advent of Covid-19 vaccines scientists have recommended their use on the basis that they are an effective remedy in dealing with the pandemic.

This is apart from prevention measures that include washing hands with soap, putting on face masks and keeping social distance.

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