South Africa: "We will begin to see an active vaccination program in the continent", says director of Africa CDC

"We remain hopeful that international cooperation will prevail. The number-one lesson I have with regards to the virus is that cooperation and partnership works."

Amid the rapid surge in COVID-19 cases in Africa, the continent is actively functioning to secure vaccine against the virus, said Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), according to a report by Anadolu Agency.

Reportedly briefing a press, John Nkengasong, the Director of Africa CDC, said that in April "we will begin to see an active vaccination program in the continent".

Nhengasing also applauded Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the African Union and Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's President, for being a vanguard in the fight against COVID-19 and advocating the vaccine.

Nkengasong also said that for the African Union member states it was important to get prepared to deliver the vaccine in a timely and efficient manner, as per the report. He also suggested against getting into a "moral crisis" on stocking of the vaccines in the developed world, while Africa still fluxes to obtain the shot.

He added that African countries have been developing various innovative standards to prepare the vaccines. "We remain hopeful that international cooperation will prevail. The number-one lesson I have with regards to the virus is that cooperation and partnership works", he said.

As stated in the latest figures by Africa CDC, over 2.7 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the continent.

#COVID19 update in Africa as of 31/12/2020 at 9AM EAT. Cases -- 2,727,345., Deaths – 64,760 and Recoveries --2,279,397. More at https://t.co/xVh2wZb6q4 #AfricaResponds #TestTraceTreat #FactsNotFear #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/on8UKF2YRc

— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) December 31, 2020

Referring to the latest COVID-19 mutated strain Nkengasong said, "the same public health measures we have been applying are still relevant in targeting the variant".

However, Africa CDC has uploaded the vaccine strategy on its website, Nkengasong added.

"@AfricaCDC has a vaccine strategy available for download on the website"@JNkengasonghttps://t.co/UGPUflRrBj#TestTraceTreat #FactsNotFear #COVID19

— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) December 31, 2020

Africa's office of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on the African countries earlier on Wednesday to boost the surveillance with the emergence of new COVID-19 variants.