UK's coronavirus certificate policy provoking ire in Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

UK's policy of not accepting coronavirus certificates from Africa is confusing, a top African public health official said Thursday.

The policy is confusing the African population, "creating more reticence, reluctance for people to receive vaccines,” John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference.

"This message doesn't really speak to solidarity and cooperation that we all believe are the cornerstone and ingredients for us to emerge from this pandemic together," he said.

Nkengasong questioned why the UK keeps sending vaccines if it failed to recognize vaccination status certificates from Africa.

Last week, the UK instituted a policy of not recognizing COVID-19 certificates from Africa that practically subject fully vaccinated Africans and those certified to quarantine upon entering the UK.

Africa demands an increase of sevenfold the current amount of vaccines supplied to the continent of 1.3 billion.

Less than 4% of the African population has been fully inoculated with wide disparities among countries on the continent in vaccination performance.

The best performer, Morocco, has immunized 44% of its population, according to Nkengasong.