The end of the zero Covid policy in China does not worry African countries

In January 2020, as the Covid-19 epidemic started to spread, African nations decided to limit the number of Chinese tourists they allowed to enter their countries, despite being one of China's major trading partners. sadness.

The announcement by Beijing at the start of December that the "zero Covid" policy would no longer be enforced and the very rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 in China since that time have sparked a variety of responses around the world. Some nations, like Japan and South Korea, have decided to introduce screening at the airport for travelers coming from China and to restrict the issuance of visas. In Africa, only Morocco made a radical decision, announcing as of January 2 that it would forbid entry into its territory for anyone arriving from China. This contrasts with the intense discussions taking place in Europe about what actions to take in response to the reopening of the Chinese borders.

As a counterbalance, other nations have stated that they will not take any action to stop Chinese travelers. This is the situation with South Africa and Kenya, a nation where Chinese tourists make up the second largest group.

The evolution of public perception of the virus's danger has contributed to the need to resume trade as soon as possible in addition to other factors. The perception of risk has significantly decreased, both in Africa and in Western nations, since the introduction of the Omicron variants, which result in fewer serious forms and fatalities.

According to Dr. Opeayo Ogundiran, head of epidemiology for the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional response to Covid-19, "Countries are encouraged to detect clusters early and ensure populations are properly vaccinated, rather than implementing measures that have not been very effective so far in controlling the spread of Covid-19, such as screening passengers on arrival or requiring a negative Covid test.". On the continent, vaccination still presents a significant challenge. "The end of the pandemic is within reach.".

Comparatively to the rest of the world, where nearly 70% of people receive the full benefits of vaccination, only about 25% of Africans do. Additionally, there are still significant inequalities across the continent: only three nations, Liberia, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, have achieved vaccination rates above 70%, while Burundi, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Senegal have vaccinated less than 10% of their populations.

According to the WHO, it will be necessary to wait until the spring of 2025 for 70% of Africans to have received a first comprehensive vaccination schedule if vaccination continues at this rate. The perception of risk is perceived as decreasing, which tends to make people less interested in getting vaccinated. "The end of the Covid-19 pandemic is at hand, but as long as Africa is far behind the rest of the world to achieve global protection, there will be a loophole that the virus will be able to dangerously exploit to come back in force," warned Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, last fall.

However, the perceived risk seems to be getting lower and lower, which tends to make populations less attractive for immunization. But, as Dr. Ogundiran points out, "we now have the vaccines we need, in the quantities we need, and in a variety of vaccines.".

A statement that serves as a reminder that Africans have had a difficult time getting access to vaccination for many months. "By the end of the year 2020, the populations quickly realized that the North was given priority when it came to receiving vaccine doses, particularly for RNA vaccines.

It made a difference that China quickly decided to open up access to its Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. We then discussed "people's vaccines," which, while their efficacy was debatable, involved fewer thermal storage restrictions than RNA vaccines and, more importantly, had the advantage of already existing, according to Xavier Aurégan, a lecturer in geopolitics at the Catholic University of Lille.

Nearly 20% of the vaccines that the continent has received have come from China, either through donations or sales. Even if, in the end, China did not expend a significant amount of money on these vaccine and equipment donations, they nevertheless helped to boost the nation's reputation for generosity that it has built up since the 1950s when it began supporting African health policies.

"China is widely present on a daily basis in the health of Africans, whether through medical missions sent by the State or via Chinese medicine "clinics," which offer care at much more affordable prices than conventional health centers," continues Xavier Aurégan. "In addition to its role in large-scale projects, such as the Mali Hospital in Bamako or currently the headquarters of the Center for disease control [cdc-africa] in Addis Abeba. The WHO assists governments in maintaining a "critical threshold of vigilance" today due to the frequently inadequate health surveillance, according to Doctor Ogundiran, who emphasizes the significance of being able to identify new epidemic outbreaks.

However, it is evident that since the outbreak of the pandemic, health surveillance has frequently been inadequate, and it is difficult to find reliable information on the number of cases and fatalities. According to statistics made public by the Africa CDC based on state reporting, there were 12.2 million cases and 256,500 fatalities.

They are regarded as being wildly off the mark. Epidemiologist and professor of public health at the University of Geneva, Antoine Flahault, writes that "the situation of the epidemic on the continent remains very imprecise. "A study published in December 2022 in the British Medical Journal illustrates very well what has been called the "African paradox," that is, the discrepancy between the prevalence of infectious diseases in Africa and the rest of the world, and the prevalence of non-infectious diseases in Africa.

In this article, the researchers detail the post-mortem examinations they conducted on more than 1,000 people who passed away in Lusaka, Zambia, and whose bodies were transported through the morgue of the neighborhood teaching hospital between January and June 2021. The tests showed that, on average, 32% of those who passed away were SARS-CoV-2 carriers, with peaks of 90% at specific times of the year. These percentages are significantly higher than those reported in the official statistics.

Additionally, the researchers found that only 1.8 percent of people who died at home had been tested ante mortem, compared to 52 percent of those who passed away in hospitals. However, in Africa, the majority of people, particularly the elderly, pass away at home.

"It would not be impossible for this to create epidemic rebounds locally, but it is likely that it will not be very visible, given the strengthening china-africa relations and the current high virus circulation in China. On the one hand, as a result of this inadequate monitoring, and on the other, as a result of the demographics, which are significantly younger than those of most other nations in the world.

Even though many people also passed away from Covid in this area, it was most likely because of this that the proportion of severe forms was reduced, according to Antoine Flahault. However, due to the demography, it will be impossible to avoid another pandemic-related health burden: long Covids. These illnesses are starting to be reported, "including in young people or people who have only had moderate symptoms," according to Dr. Ogundiran, who emphasizes the difficulty that African healthcare systems will face in treating these patients.

"A study published in December 2022 in the British Medical Journal illustrates very well what has been called the "African paradox," that is, the discrepancy between the prevalence of infectious diseases in Africa and the rest of the world, and the prevalence of non-infectious diseases in Africa.