Africa losing battle against COVID-19 vaccine

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Thursday said less than 2% of the continent's population have been inoculated, appealing to the international community to provide the required number of vaccine doses to the continent considering this a "collective security issue.”

“We are not winning the vaccination battle in Africa,” Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong said in a pessimistic tone during a weekly media briefing in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

“43 million doses of vaccines have been acquired, [of which] 23 million doses have been administered,” he said.

The Africa CDC was expecting to inoculate 60% of the African population by the end of this year, Nkengasong said. However, the target seemed to be impossible considering that the continent has only managed to vaccinate less than 2% of the population.

He appealed to the international community to provide the required number of vaccine doses to Africa, calling it a “collective security issue.”

He added that fewer vaccinations will delay the continent's ability to successfully combat the virus.

Meanwhile, Nkengasong said the continent managed to vaccine 47 million people, with one million people vaccinated in the last week. The continent saw 69,394 new cases in the period from May 17 to May 23, a 24% increase.

The Africa CDC's daily update for Thursday showed 3,822,773 cases, 112,185 deaths, and 3,437,792 recoveries across the continent.