Never has the expression "We are not safe until we are all safe" been more relevant, a leading Australian doctor working in Africa says.
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Dr Andrew Browning, who is currently in Tanzania, believes Australia is at risk while the majority of people living in developing nations are unvaccinated.
He says it's ironic that most people in the developed world are now accessing their third shot of the COVID-19 vaccine while most Africans haven't received one.
"While Africa, and other developing nations, are unvaccinated, Australians are unsafe," he said on Monday.
"Australia cannot just 'booster and mask' its way out of every pandemic while leaving places like Africa behind.
"While numbers are now decreasing, yet again, how long will it be before another variant develops in the nations who are unvaccinated?"
Dr Browning said the Omicron variant showed how vulnerable Australians are, because visitors from all over the world can bring the virus in.
Australia opened their borders to double vaccinated international visitors on Monday, almost two years since they were slammed shut to keep the virus from our shores.
He declared it a tragedy that only eight per cent of the African population have been fully vaccinated.
Dr Browning who has lived in Africa for 17 years and travels back and forth to Australia, says without providing vaccines to developing countries, Australia could see wave after wave of new variants "crashing through our borders".
He called on Australia and other developed nations to do more as world citizens.
Over the pandemic, Australia has recorded three million cases and 4929 deaths.
In comparison, South Africa has had 3.6 million cases and 98,667 deaths and Papua New Guinea has had 39,909 cases and 636 deaths.
In a report posted in the Lancet medical journal in January this year, lead author Chris McCall said the COVID-19 pandemic in PNG was showing no signs of ending.
"Many areas have no testing facilities for COVID-19. Vaccination levels are dismally low (on December 16, the government reported that 283,915 people had received at least one dose; (the country's total population is around nine million)," the report said.
It is thought that many cases in underdeveloped countries go unreported.
Australia has provided both funding and medical support to PNG since the pandemic began, including cash for vaccines and sending medical teams to help with the rollout.
The World Health Organisation last week reported a 19 per cent decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases compared to the prior week.
It also helped South Sudan's emergency response to the virus by opening its Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.
The centre is part of a WHO-implemented $US4.2 million African Development Bank grant project that included procuring an oxygen plant, vehicles, essential medicines and personal protective equipment.
Australian Associated Press
