Africa registers 5.6m COVID-19 vaccinations

* The number of those vaccinated in Malawi, is at 23,907 since the roll out on March 11

* South Africa remains as having the most reported COVID-19 cases so far at 1,535,423 including 52,035 deaths

* Malawi ranks at number 20 with cumulative figure of 33,216 cases including 1,093 deaths

By Duncan Mlanjira

As Malawi is going into the second phase of administering the AstraZeneca vaccine, the public should gain confidence that fellow African countries are also seriously reaching out to their citizenry.

Over 5,599,955 vaccinations have been administered across the continent as of March 20, according to Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

As for Malawi, the number of those vaccinated as of the past 24 hours of Saturday is at 23,907 — up from 15,326 people that had their jab as of Friday.

The number of people that have been vaccinated in the past 24 hours was 8,581 while Friday’s was at 6,235.

The first phase of the vaccination exercise, which was officially launched by President Lazarus Chakwera on March 11, involved COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers and other essential service providers.

The second phase — rolling out from  Monday — targets the elderly (aged 60 years above) and people with commorbidities like asthma, BP, diabetes, cancers, HIV and other chronic conditions.

Others are social workers such as teachers,  journalists, people in different government departments, banks, truck drivers, chiefs, religious leaders, Councilors, MPs and other influential leaders.

Meanwhile, confirmed cases from 55 African countries reached 4,086,994 while reported deaths reached 109,489 with 3,668,141 people having  recovered.

South Africa has the most reported cases — 1,535,423 with the number of the dead at 52,035. Other most-affected countries are Morocco (491,019), Tunisia (244,776), Egypt (194,127), Ethiopia (183,863) and Nigeria (161,539).

Malawi ranks at number 20 with cumulative figure of 33,216 and 1,093 deaths (case fatality rate at 3.29%).

In the past 24 hours, Malawi has registered 42 new COVID-19 cases, 261 new recoveries and one new death — from Zomba District.

Of the new cases 41 are locally transmitted with Blantyre having the highest at 19.

Cumulatively, 28,108 cases have now recovered at a recovery rate of 84.6% while 134 were lost to follow-up — bringing the total number of active cases to 3,881 from the total recorded 33,216 cases since the pandemic broke out last year.

Also in the past 24 hours, four cases were hospitalised while five were discharged — bringing a total of 38 active cases that are in admission.

Lilongwe has nine hospitalised — seven in Blantyre; four each in Mzimba North, Zomba and Thyolo; three in Kasungu; two in Phalombe, and one each in Nkhata Bay, Balaka, Salima, Mangochi, and Chiradzulu Districts.

There were 585 COVID-19 tests that were conducted on Saturday through SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic test while the rest were through RT-PCR.

The positive cases out of the total translates to a positivity rate of 7.2%.

As the data indicates an increase in the recovery rate (now at 84.6%) and the downward trend in the positivity rate and a decline in the number of admissions, co-chairperson of the presidential task force on COVID-19, Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda says this is giving hope to the fight against the COVID-19.

But she expressed dismay that some people have relaxed in practicing the COVID-19 preventive and containment measures due to the reduced numbers being reported.

She warned the public though though there is the increase in the recovery rate and the downward trend in the positivity rate, the country  is still reporting new confirmed cases on a daily basis.

“This means that there is still community transmission of the disease in our midst,” she said. “It is worrying that the relaxation is also coming when we are approaching the Easter period.

“At this same time, other countries are reporting an increased number of confirmed cases and are imposing the restrictions again. If we are not careful, we may be heading the same route.

“At this point, we need to sustain the gains made so far and ensure that we supress the transmission even further by strictly adhering to the preventive and containment measures.

“Let me emphasize that the low figures being reported should not make us to relax and stop the practicing the preventive and containment measures.

“To effectively reduce and stop the coronavirus from spreading, there is need for a collective effort to contain the pandemic by comprehensively following all the preventive and containment measures.”

She encouraged those in the priority groups (health workers and other social workers, those with comorbidities and those aged 60 years and above to get vaccinated.

“No one is safe until everyone else is safe — protect yourself; protect your loved ones; protect everyone. Call toll free 929,” the Minister said.