|
 Russia's Sputnik vaccines are part of an effort by wealthier
countries to plug the COVID-19 vaccine gap in Africa, but so far
they remain a minimal component of imports to the continent.
Russia's invasion entered its second week on Thursday and there are
concerns that the focus on the war could interrupt vaccine shipments
to Africa.
Richard Mihigo, the programme area manager for WHO Africa, told a
weekly online news conference that Russia's Sputnik COVID-19
vaccines were a minimal component of imports to the continent.
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 "In the short term, there will
be very little impact on the vaccine supply
overall in the region," Mihigo said."We need to
look at the mid- to long-term impact of this
military offensive, and the economic sanctions -
it is very difficult to say (now what the effect
will be)."
Only 13% of Africans are fully vaccinated,
lagging most of the rest of the world.
(Reporting by George Obulutsa and James Macharia
Chege, editing by Mark Heinrich)
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