UPDATE 3-WHO aiming for 20% of Africa to get initial COVID jabs from access plan

(Recasts throughout with WHO Africa's comments)
By George Obulutsa and Duncan Miriri
NAIROBI, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization
wants to secure an initial 230 million doses of any COVID-19
vaccine for Africa, officials said Thursday, while emphasising
that any vaccine in development should also be tested on the
continent.
The global vaccine allocation plan, called COVAX, aims to
help buy and fairly distribute deliver 2 billion doses of
approved vaccines by the end of 2021. "This ... (initial batch) will cover 20% of the African
population, initially prioritising those who are the front line,
health care workers, then expanding to cover vulnerable groups,"
Richard Mihigo, the programme area manager for WHO Africa, told
an online news conference.
The scheme has nine COVID-19 vaccine candidates covering a
range of technologies and scientific approaches. Some are in
late-stage clinical trials and could have data available by
year-end.
Only two of the potential COVID-19 vaccines are being tested
in Africa, said Richard Hatchett, chief executive officer of the
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which
co-leads the COVAX project with the WHO and the Gavi vaccines
alliance.
“Testing vaccines on the continent ensures that sufficient
data is generated on the safety and efficacy of the most
promising vaccine candidates for the African population so they
can be confidently rolled out in Africa,” he said.
John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention, told an online news conference that
talks with COVAX would supplement other negotiations with
nations such as China, Canada and the United States over
securing access to shots.
The continent has fared better than expected, health experts
say. The number of new cases fell 11% in the past four weeks,
Nkengasong said.
"We are seeing an epidemiological curve that is either
stabilising or decreasing, representing a sign of hope," he
said, adding that inadequate testing still means the picture is
incomplete.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Planning to quit, U.S. says it will not pay what it owes WHO
this year group says 76 rich countries now committed to
"COVAX" access plan House slams WHO over criticism of push for COVID-19
vaccine ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>