By Leshi Adebayo
Some African influencers as well as United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassadors have appealed to the G-20 leaders to urgently donate COVID-19 vaccines to Africa.
This call, which was an open letter to G-20 leaders by the influencers, is contained in a statement signed by UNICEF Abuja Communications Officer, Anike Ali-Hakeem.
The signatories to the letter implored fellow Africans to support the request over the next month, in the run-up to the G20 meetings in Rome billed for the end of October.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), some of the influencers, who joined the call are UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors and musicians – Femi Kuti, Angelique Kidjo, and Cobhams Asuquo; UBA CEO and philanthropist, Mr. Tony Elumelu.
Others are actors, Genevieve Nnaji and Daniel Etim Effiong, and Nigerian singer, David Adeleke (Davido).
A part of the open letter read: “Many rich countries are already on track, yet just a fraction of Africans are fully vaccinated.
“COVID-19 deaths are declining almost everywhere except in Africa, where they are rising.
“Rich nations have pledged to donate over a billion vaccines this year and hundreds of millions more in 2022 and supporting Africa to manufacture and buy its own vaccines.
“This gives us hope, but most of these promises remain unfulfilled; Africa cannot wait, we need many of the vaccine doses now.”
In a video message, David Adeleke fondly called Davido, urged that there should be fair distribution of the vaccines in Africa.
He said, “For this pandemic to truly end, it has to end everywhere. Africans must have their fair access to the vaccines.
“This is the only way the COVID-19 can get out of here; as an African and a Nigerian, I support UNICEF’s call on governments with excess doses to share them now.
“Let us join hands to ensure fair access to vaccines for everyone.”
Recall that world leaders set a target that every country should vaccinate 70% of its population as some developed countries have met or exceeded this target.
Meanwhile, according to the Nation, across Africa, only 4% of the population are fully vaccinated with vastly accelerated dose-sharing as the only option to protect people from the worst effects of the virus.
