Africa CDC in talks with Pfizer for COVID treatment pill

DAKAR, Senegal — — The manager of Africa’s Centers for Disease Control said the enactment is talking to Pfizer astir bringing its COVID-19 attraction pill to the continent, which has conscionable passed 10 cardinal cases.

The discussions travel arsenic Dr. John Nkengasong urges authorities and citizens not to relent connected vaccinations and preventive measures arsenic assorted countries travel down from waves of accrued infections from the omicron variant.

“We are moving manus successful hand. ... We are successful adjacent discussions with Pfizer to spot what tin beryllium done to marque the drugs disposable connected the continent,” Nkengasong said Thursday successful a property briefing.

He said helium hopes the attraction would assistance stressed wellness systems connected the continent and would beryllium portion of an attack successful 2022 that includes scaling up vaccines and expanding investigating to assistance woody with the pandemic.

At slightest 39 countries person reported the caller variant and the mean summation of cases successful Africa is astir 11 percent, helium said.

He noted that vaccination rates are inactive not precocious enough, saying governments are struggling due to the fact that determination are specified precocious numbers of radical lone getting vaccinated erstwhile determination is simply a peak, which leads to a batch of hospitalizations and unit connected the systems that tin beryllium avoided.

“My proposal to the colonisation connected the continent is spell get vaccinated,” helium said. “If the colonisation is not acceptable to spell get the vaccines the governments person worked truthful hard to bring to the continent, I spot wherefore countries would not person an enactment different than to enforce vaccine mandates.”

The continent has received much than 660 cardinal doses of vaccines, with lone astir 340 cardinal doses administered.

Africa has present recorded much than 10.1 cardinal cases of coronavirus with 232,363 deaths crossed much than 50 countries, according to the Africa CDC.