ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Africa has seen a 13% weekly decrease in COVID-19 cases, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

In a weekly briefing, John Nkengasong said that 67,000 cases were reported from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, down 13% compared to the cases registered the previous week.

"We are very encouraged with that," Nkengasong said.

Some 2,500 new COVID-19 deaths were reported during the same period, down 5% from the previous week, he added.

In terms of vaccination, the continent performed dismally with only 4.5% of the 1.3 billion population fully vaccinated.

Africa has so far received a total of 200 million vaccine doses, of which 156 million doses (or 76.77 percent of supply) have been administered.

Malaria vaccine

Nkengasong said Wednesday's announcement of a new malaria vaccine would be "a game-changer" as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS kill more than one million people annually in Africa.

"We will be in contact with GAVI and WHO in the coming days to understand the availability of the vaccine and [to see] how these vaccines can be distributed in an equitable manner," he said.

He described the new malaria vaccine as a significant breakthrough in 100 years.

The WHO approved the widespread use of the Mosquirix vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline.