Gavi, the vaccine alliance has announced in a statement that Burkina Faso surpassed the 10% COVID-19 vaccination milestone (of total population, fully vaccinated), a noteworthy step in the protection of lives and towards ending vaccine inequity.
Dr. Richard Mihigo, Director of COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery, Coordination and Integration at Gavi says Burkina Faso is making significant progress given the country’s competing health priorities in the country and the fact that the health system is already stretched thin.
He says among the country’s most significant achievements has been the development of a successful, replicable model for improving access to information and countering the proliferation of rumors, which has affected vaccination rollout in the country.
By January this year, 34 countries were below 10% coverage with two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. With Burkina Faso’s milestone today, that number is 9.
Over 679m doses have been delivered by COVAX to the African continent to support vaccination efforts in 46 countries.
