Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Faculty of Management and Development Studies, University of the Philippines Open University, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.
Glob Health Res Policy. 2021 Dec 2;6(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s41256-021-00231-1.
The World Health Organization described herd immunity, also known as population immunity, as the indirect fortification from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous exposure to infection. The emergence of COVID-19 vaccine is a step towards the achievement of herd immunity. Over one billion people across the globe have been vaccinated and Africa recorded only 2%. The objective of this article was to develop a forecast of the number of people to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity in the 13 WHO-identified priority African countries for COVID-19. Herd immunity is achieved when one infected person in a population causes less than one secondary case on average, corresponding to the effective basic reproduction number (R). Vaccine delivery and distribution infrastructure including the cold chain remains weak. Vaccine hesitancy is also one of the limiting factors that may hinder herd immunity in Africa. In order to achieve herd immunity globally, African countries should not be excluded in fair and equal distribution of vaccines. Relevant stakeholders should foster commitment as well as community sensitization on COVID-19 vaccines and integration of COVID-19 vaccines in existing healthcare services.
世界卫生组织将群体免疫（也称为人群免疫）描述为一种间接防御传染病的方式，当人群通过接种疫苗或以前接触感染而产生免疫力时，就会发生这种情况。COVID-19 疫苗的出现是实现群体免疫的一步。全球已有超过 10 亿人接种了疫苗，而非洲仅记录了 2%。本文的目的是预测在世界卫生组织确定的 COVID-19 优先非洲国家中，为实现群体免疫而需要接种疫苗的人数。当人群中一个感染者平均导致不到一个二次病例时，就会达到群体免疫，这对应于有效基本繁殖数 (R)。疫苗的提供和分配基础设施，包括冷链，仍然薄弱。疫苗犹豫也是可能阻碍非洲群体免疫的限制因素之一。为了在全球范围内实现群体免疫，非洲国家不应被排除在公平和公平分配疫苗之外。相关利益攸关方应促进对 COVID-19 疫苗的承诺以及社区宣传，并将 COVID-19 疫苗纳入现有医疗保健服务中。
