Even in the face of dwindling resources and competing demands, the push for total polio eradication must continue because as long as even a few people have polio, it could spread widely again
Dr Ifeanyi McWilliams Nsofor is a graduate of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical School. He is a Senior New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity at George Washington University (in this capacity, he participates in the global interest groups, seminars and conferences that are run by the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity programme at George Washington University and the Atlantic Institute based in Oxford). In 2016, Ifeanyi was a DAAD Scholar for the Modern Teaching Methods short course at Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich, Germany. For the past 21 years post-graduation, Ifeanyi has worked with Nigeria’s National Programme on Immunization, Pathfinder International, Nutrition International, TY Danjuma Foundation, EpiAFRIC and Nigeria Health Watch. He consults for different health organisations.
Kaz Fantone for NPR
I began my global health career as a surveillance officer with Nigeria s National Programme on Immunization.
So of course I ve been following the vaccine news with a close eye.
I was elated when the first COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective late last year. Knowing how effective vaccines can be in ending epidemics, I was hopeful that the end of the pandemic was in sight.
However, my joy was cut short when richer Western nations began buying up the vaccine doses. As a result, COVID-19 vaccines will not likely be widely available in Africa until 2022 or 2023.
So of course I ve been following the vaccine news with a close eye.
I was elated when the first COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective late last year. Knowing how effective vaccines can be in ending epidemics, I was hopeful that the end of the pandemic was in sight.
However, my joy was cut short when richer Western nations began buying up the vaccine doses. As a result, COVID-19 vaccines will not likely be widely available in Africa until 2022 or 2023.
I am shocked that these wealthier nations think this is the best way to protect their people from a global pandemic that does not respect borders. The Igbo people of Nigeria my ethnic group are always practical. An Igbo proverb comes to mind, as popularized by the late author Chinua Achebe:
Credit: Kaz Fantone for NPR
Opinion: Why I m An Invisible Man In The Global Vaccine Campaign By
at 12:22 pm NPR
I began my global health career as a surveillance officer with Nigeria s National Programme on Immunization.
So of course I ve been following the vaccine news with a close eye.
I was elated when the first COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective late last year. Knowing how effective vaccines can be in ending epidemics, I was hopeful that the end of the pandemic was in sight.
However, my joy was cut short when richer Western nations began buying up the vaccine doses. As a result, COVID-19 vaccines will not likely be widely available in Africa until 2022 or 2023.