A.U Launches Covid Vaccine E-Passport

The passport will be available digitally. To demonstrate verification of a person’s complete Covid-19 vaccination and possession of a valid vaccination certificate, a QR code will be scanned.

It was unveiled at a virtual event on Friday, which is Africa Integration Day, when several African heads of state and other top figures in world health were present.

Ahmed Ogwell, the acting director of the African CDC, claims that the vaccination e-passport will soon be expanded to incorporate additional certifications, like those for yellow fever.

The Africa CDC was also in discussions to connect the passport to other international systems, he noted.

Meanwhile, the Paxlovid pill, used to treat COVID-19, will be distributed to African nations, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) inked by the continent’s main public health organisation (CDC) and Pfizer.

In persons at high risk of severe disease, data from a mid-to-late stage research published last November indicated that the antiviral medicine was over 90% effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths when compared to a placebo.

The MOU was complete, according to the Africa CDC, an organisation of the 55-member African Union, but it needed to be approved by its legal department.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID-19-related mortality on the continent are predicted to decline by over 94 percent in 2022 compared to last year.

Data from the WHO Africa office show that as of the end of May, Africa had recorded more than 11.8 million confirmed COVID-19 infections and more than 250,000 fatalities since the pandemic started.