Africa struggling to get Covid-19 jabs
SUSAN NJANJI
Vaccines were promoted as a silver bullet to end the pandemic, the path to finally beating Covid-19. But in Africa, they remain scarce, with access hampered by hoarding, export bans and empty promises.
Nearly six billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but only two percent of those have been in Africa.
Experts hope that a meeting on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly this week will address gaping vaccine inequalities that are leaving many countries in Africa behind.
Africa has largely been spared the high infections and death rates that Covid-19 has wrought in many Western nations, though Delta-variant outbreaks have seen some of the numbers creep up.
Home to 1.3 billion people, the continent has reported nearly 8.2 million infections and 206 000 deaths.In Europe, by comparison, 1.2 million people have died from the virus. But the continent badly lags on vaccine rates too.
African countries can get their hands on vaccines by purchasing them directly from manufacturers, or via donations.
One main avenue for getting donated shots is through Covax, an international vaccine-sharing scheme for lower-income nations. -Nampa/Reuters
Vaccines were promoted as a silver bullet to end the pandemic, the path to finally beating Covid-19. But in Africa, they remain scarce, with access hampered by hoarding, export bans and empty promises.
Nearly six billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but only two percent of those have been in Africa.
Experts hope that a meeting on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly this week will address gaping vaccine inequalities that are leaving many countries in Africa behind.
Africa has largely been spared the high infections and death rates that Covid-19 has wrought in many Western nations, though Delta-variant outbreaks have seen some of the numbers creep up.
Home to 1.3 billion people, the continent has reported nearly 8.2 million infections and 206 000 deaths.In Europe, by comparison, 1.2 million people have died from the virus. But the continent badly lags on vaccine rates too.
African countries can get their hands on vaccines by purchasing them directly from manufacturers, or via donations.
One main avenue for getting donated shots is through Covax, an international vaccine-sharing scheme for lower-income nations. -Nampa/Reuters
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