As of July 28, total number of active CoVID-19 cases at 586; Down from 13,026 as at January 1, 2022

CoVID-19 vaccination proving to be working

* Fully vaccinated Malawians at 712,743 as of January 1; now at 1,722,793 as at July 28

* CoVID-19 immunization in lower-income countries leads to decline in coverage but signs of recovery emerge—Gavi Vaccine Alliance

By Duncan Mlanjira

On January 1, 2022, the total number of active CoVID-19 cases was at 13,026 but has now reduced to 586 as of Thursday, July 28 — which, however, also recorded 42 new cases, 120 new recoveries and one related death.

On January 1, the country registered 756 new cases bringing a cumulative confirmed figure of 75,828 but a total of 60,202 had recovered at the rate of 79.39% — thus giving active cases at 13,026.

Thursday’s situation report from the presidential taskforce of CoVID-19, indicates that Malawi’s cumulative figure of recorded is at 87,365 — including 2,664 deaths — since the onset of the pandemic cases at case fatality rate of 3.05%.

Cumulatively, 83,825 cases have now recovered — at the rate of 95.93% — while 290 were lost to follow-up along the way, bringing the total number of active cases to 586.

Also of note, is the increasing number of people that are fully vaccinated that has contributed to the low level of new cases since the national vaccination campaign was rolled out last year.

As of January 1, the total figure of those fully vaccinated was 712,743 but it is at 1,722,793 as at July 28, with 2,393,876 having had their first dose and those who have so far taken the Booster at 50,352.

On January 1, those admitted in hospitals were 131 (31 being new for that day) but as of Thursday, there were five new admissions — bringing 32 cases on admission in treatment units (16 in Lilongwe, 10 in Blantyre, two each in Zomba and Mzimba North, and one each in Neno and Chikwawa).

In its report of Friday, July 29, Gavi — the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance which is a co-convener of COVAX (CoVID-19 support system in Africa) — says an analysis of the state of routine immunisation in 57 lower-income countries supported by Gavi shows that the CoVID-19 pandemic continued to hold back vaccinations in 2021, but signs of recovery are beginning to emerge.

A report from Geneva says basic vaccine coverage in 57 Gavi-supported countries dropped by 1% point to 77% in 2021 following a 4% point fall in 2020 and that the number of zero-dose children increased by 570,000 to 12.5 million.

It also said one-third of the countries analysed saw vaccine coverage increase in 2021 and that two-thirds of African countries have either recovered to pre-pandemic levels or begun recovering — with Chad and Pakistan standing out for strong performances.

The overall decline since 2019 is primarily driven by larger countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo – which, after a strong growth trajectory in previous years, fell from vaccinating 73% of children in 2019 to 65% in 2021 – and India, which dropped from a high coverage level of 91% to 85%.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Mozambique all saw large declines in coverage in 2021.

Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is quoted as saying: “Hiding behind these figures is a human tragedy on an enormous scale. Millions of children have missed out on lifesaving vaccines, leaving them vulnerable to some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

“Gavi will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with countries to get immunisation back on track, because no parent should have to suffer the loss of their child due to preventable illness.”

The report further says elsewhere, there are signs of recovery emerging, adding that one-third, or 19 of the 57 countries included in the analysis, increased vaccine coverage in 2021.

Chad and Niger both increased coverage across the pandemic period from 2019-2021, reducing the number of zero dose children by 16 and 20% respectively, while Pakistan saw strong recovery in 2021 and reduced the number of zero-dose children by over 400,000, bringing numbers back to pre -pandemic levels.

“This analysis represents a very sobering assessment of the impact the pandemic continues to have on essential routine immunization,” Anuradha Gupta, Gavi’s Deputy CEO is quoted as saying.

Last week, Gavi announced that it is opening its first application window for support in rolling out the first-ever malaria vaccine, to protect children against a disease that kills hundreds of thousands in Africa.

Malawi, Ghana, Kenya have been made to apply by September 13 for the vaccine, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved in October, 2021 as the game changer in the fight against malaria.

A statement from Geneva quoted Dr. Seth Berkley as saying “the work towards a malaria vaccine has been long and hard” but now “a new chapter begins — alongside existing interventions — as this new tool will allow us to save more lives in countries hit hardest by this killer disease.”

According to Gavi, more than 260,000 African children under the age of five years old die from malaria annually, and six Gavi-eligible countries account for 50% of global mortality, with Dr. Matshidiso Moeti (WHO Regional Director for Africa) quoted as saying: “One child dies of malaria every minute in Africa, and we must do everything possible to stop this trend.

“The new funding opportunity will make the world’s only malaria vaccine more accessible to African children. If delivered to scale, the vaccine will help to prevent millions of cases of malaria, save tens of thousands of lives and ensure a brighter future for the continent.”

Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 900 million children – and prevented more than 15 million future deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 lower-income countries.