A special global initiative to respond to the Delta variant has been set up, as COVID-19 cases are expected to reach 200 million within the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, 70% of African countries will miss the World Health Organization’s (WHO) target to vaccinate 10% of their populations against COVID-19 by the end of September, and deaths on the continent have increased by 80% in the past month.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made these announcements as part of the global body’s media briefing on Friday.

The Rapid ACT-Accelerator Delta Response (RADAR) has been launched with an urgent call for $7.7 billion for more tests, treatments and vaccines to address the variant’s rapid spread, said Tedros.

“We need more research and development to ensure that tests, treatments, vaccines and other tools remain effective against the Delta variant and other emerging variants. And of course, we need more vaccines,” said a tired-looking Tedros, who recently returned from trips to the Tokyo Olympics and opening WHO offices in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Dr Maria van Kerkhove, WHO Lead on COVID-19, said while the WHO was working with groups across the world to “get a better handle on the Delta variant”, some laboratory studies suggested that the variant was able to replicate faster in human airways and that those infected had higher viral loads than with previous earlier versions of the virus.

“What we do know is that public health and social measures do work against the Delta variant,” stressed Van Kerkhove.

“We know that our vaccines are safe and effective against severe disease and death. And so those who have access to the vaccine, when it’s your turn, please get vaccinated and make sure that you get the full course.”

Africa might not vaccinate 10% of citizens by end of year

Once again, Tedros sounded the alarm about Africa’s slow vaccine rollout: “Around 3.5 million to 4 million doses are administered weekly on the [African] continent, but to meet the September target this must rise to 21 million doses at the very least each week.

“Many African countries are prepared well to roll out vaccines, but the vaccines have not arrived. Less than 2% of all doses administered globally have been in Africa, less than 2%. Just 1.5% of the continent’s population are fully vaccinated.”

Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO’s representative on COVAX, said that Africa might not even vaccinate 10% of its citizens by the end of the year.

“There’s enough absorptive capacity that they could easily hit 30-40% coverage,” said Aylward. “So our key goal, and what I spent my days doing, and an awful lot of other people like the Director-General, is trying to look at how do we shift more product into that pipeline, so that we can make sure that realistically, we’re well over 20% to 30% by the end of this year.”

But, said Aylward, the decision to supply African countries rests with “CEOs and the boards of companies that manufacture vaccines”.

“We should never be talking about ‘what do we think is going to happen in Africa versus America versus Europe’. We should have the same standard, we should have the same ambition, we should have the same aspiration and be driving for the same coverage levels, right. So if Europe gets to 70-60%, by the end of this year, why should Africa not get there as well?”

Tedros defends Olympics visit 

When asked whether his attendance at the Tokyo Olympics was an endorsement of the Games, which has seen a spike in COVID cases in Japan, Tedros said he had attended the opening ceremony and addressed the Olympic Organising Committee to spread the message of global solidarity to do better against the pandemic.

He appealed to all Olympic athletes to become “ambassadors of solidarity” to defeat the pandemic when they went back to their countries.

“There is no zero risk, but Japan has tried its best,” added Tedros.

“When I was attending the official opening, I saw the torch bearer with a mask and the torch, and that picture still means a lot to me. It shows that we are doing this in very difficult conditions. We’re doing this when we’re taken hostage by a dangerous virus, but at the same time it shows me the determination to fight back.”

While admitting that Tokyo had seen an increase of around 3000 COVID cases in the past 24 hours, WHO Director of Health Emergencies Dr Mike Ryan said that the Olympics’ risk management was “extremely comprehensive”

“The Director General’s trip was to highlight the need for the world to come together, the need for the world to act together, the need for the world to reduce the inequities that are truly driving this pandemic and focus on what are the true drivers of this pandemic,” said Ryan.

“ And the true drivers of this pandemic are not within the Olympic Games. They’re really related to the deep inequities we have in the distribution and availability of vaccine, the deep inequities in health that we have around the world. And his call was a call to the world at a moment of unity of sport: we need a moment of unity amongst health systems, amongst governments, amongst everybody to play fair.”

WHO expects China’s co-operation on virus origin, despite its recent refusal

In relation to China’s recent refusal to agree to phase two of the planned WHO virus origins research in its country, Ryan said he expected that the country would cooperate.

“There’s a lot of rhetoric out there. The one consistent thing we’ve heard from all countries has been, ‘let’s not politicise the science’ and the next thing that happens is the science is politicised. 

“We believe we have the basis to move forward. We have a set of studies that can be taken forward. We want to bring together the scientific advisory group on origins to help take that forward. We want to bring members of the international team into that process to maintain continuity with the previous process. And we want to reassure our colleagues in China that this process is still, and always has been, driven by science,” said Ryan.

“The objectives that we all want is to control COVID-19, to establish the origins of the virus and put in place what measures we can to prevent a further re-emergence of a similar virus in the future.”

Details of African mRNA hub released

To boost Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity, Tedros released details of the WHO’s partnership with a number of South African companies and the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

The partnership’s responsibilities, set out in a letter of intent, follows the WHO’s announcement last month of the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa to enable “vaccine security for Africa in the future”.  

Two South African companies, Afrigen Biologics and the Biologicals and Vaccines Institute of Southern Africa (Biovac), will provide the site, staff and expertise for the hub, while the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) will assist with clinical trials and getting products to market.

“Inequitable manufacturing and distribution of vaccines is behind the wave of death, which is now sweeping across many low- and middle-income countries that have been starved of vaccine supply,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist in a media release on Friday.

“Building vaccine manufacturing capacity in South Africa is the first step in a broader effort to boost local production to address health emergencies and strengthen regional health security.” 

“At the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), we look forward to offering our intellectual property expertise and experience, and to working closely with WHO and partners”, said Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP. 

“Within the consortium, MPP will provide appropriate intellectual property analysis, define and negotiate terms and conditions of the agreements, provide alliance management and make use of our established robust selection process to allow further technology recipients to benefit.”

Afrigen is a biotechnology company incorporated in South Africa, which established the first adjuvant formulation laboratory in Africa and has a pipeline of vaccines in development. Afrigen has built strong research and development partnerships with leading Universities in South Africa and across Africa.

“We have recently completed a facility suitable for the establishment of a fully integrated mRNA pilot scale production, formulation and fill finish platform,” said Prof Petro Terblanche, Managing Director of Afrigen. “Our platform and facilities are well positioned to deliver on the hub’s objectives, and  Afrigen will focus on ensuring the technical, scientific, quality control and quality assurance and regulatory teams so as to implement the mRNA Hub for Africa.”

Biovac is a South African specialist vaccines company that was established to revive local human vaccine production in Southern Africa. 

“Biovac sources and supplies a comprehensive range of vaccines required by the South African government and its neighbouring countries including childhood disease vaccines among others, and more recently COVID-19 vaccines,” said Biovac CEO Morena Makhoana. 

“It is a long-held desire of Biovac to ensure that the full value chain of vaccines is developed in our continent and our aim is to assemble state of the art manufacturing capacity and help ensure the transfer of mRNA technology and know-how as quickly as possible.”

Image Credits: @Olympics , China Daily.