Africa is facing a devastating resurgence of COVID-19 infections whose peak will surpass that of earlier waves as the continent's countries struggle to vaccinate even a small percentage of the population, top health officials said Thursday.
“The third wave is picking up speed, spreading faster, hitting harder,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said Thursday
The delta variant that has devastated India has been detected in at least 14 African countries including Congo, Mozambique, Namibia and Uganda. Critically, only 1% of the continent's 1.3 billion people have been vaccinated, according to WHO and the CDC. Globally, around 2.7 billion vaccine doses have been administered, of which less than 1.5% have been given in the continent, according to WHO Africa.
“Our work in COVAX has been hugely challenged by the vaccine availabilities,” Moeti said, adding that WHO is willing to consider all available vaccines and will do everything possible to ensure that the vaccines become available at the global level.
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