News & Analysis: Ethiopia
“Over two million have so far been vaccinated in Ethiopia and a quick calculation will show that there can not be more than 150,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine left in stock. This means that hundreds of thousands of people will be forced to wait until the government can source a new batch.”
COVID-19 Africa Watch talks to State Minister Yasmin Wohabrebbi about the policy response to the pandemic, the efforts to develop the digital economy, and the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).
“So far, Ethiopian Airlines has carried more than 27m vaccines to 24 countries. It has a 54,000 sq m freezer facility in Addis Ababa for COVID-19 vaccines that can keep the temperature at -25C, and is developing a facility to make enough ice to keep vaccines ultra-cold when needed.”
“India stopped exporting COVID-19 vaccines in mid-April, leaving Covax and the 92 low-income and lower-middle-income countries that depend on the program in the lurch. The shortfall is estimated to be at 190 million doses by the end of June.”
“Response measures introduced by the government, including tax deferrals and waivers, liquidity provision to commercial banks, measures to ease access to credit and loan refinancing, logistics facilitation and food distribution measures, have contributed to cushioning some of the impacts from the crisis.”
“Regular tests will be available within three hours for both departing and arriving passengers. The airline says that it will be able to test up to 1,000 passengers a day with the new equipment.”
“COVID-19 may have increased the risk of electoral violence in four key ways: facilitating clampdowns on political opposition, fueling the proliferation of disinformation, worsening economic fragility and delaying elections.”
“Across the region, the devastating impact of armed conflict in countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Nigeria, was compounded by the pandemic as a number of states weaponized it to crack down on human rights. The crackdowns included killings of civilians and arrests of opposition politicians and supporters and human rights defenders and activists in countries such as Angola, Guinea, and Uganda.”
“The virus’s spread has seen a sudden spike in recent months, indicating that Ethiopia indeed faces a third-wave since the first person with the virus was identified in March last year.”
“National and international restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19 led to an economic downturn in Ethiopia which is likely to have pushed an additional 15 million people below the poverty line.”
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