The consulting firm NKC African Economics said today that Mozambique is unlikely to reach the goal of vaccinating 17 million people by the end of the year, pointing to the expansion of the pandemic in the country's northern provinces.

"Although more than 1.2 million Mozambicans received doses during the past month, it seems unlikely that the government will achieve its goal of immunizing 17 million citizens by the end of the year," say analysts at this African branch of the British consultancy Oxford Economics.

In the commentary on the evolution of the pandemic in the country, sent to clients and to which Lusa had access, the analysts write that "the infrastructural difficulties in rural areas and the conflict in Cabo Delgado province, which has registered a strong increase in the number of covid-19 cases, will be a challenge for health authorities.

During August, the official number of active cases of covid-19 in the country dropped to 11,803, a decrease of 63% since the end of July, acknowledge the analysts, who counter, however, that "in recent weeks there has been an increase in confirmed cases in the northern provinces of Zambezia, Nampula, Niassa and in Cabo Delgado."

By the end of last month, only less than 4% of Mozambicans had been vaccinated, despite a sharp increase in vaccine deliveries since July and the launch of a comprehensive vaccination program in early August, NKC African Economics notes.

Lusa Agency