In order to achieve continent-wide herd immunity, officials believe 60% of Africa’s 1.3 billion population would need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. But policymakers are struggling to obtain adequate supplies with cases surging.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, over 5,400 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported across the continent over the past week, an increase of 21 per cent.
Governments and international stakeholders are concerned about the increase in deaths and case numbers, especially after a more infectious form of the virus was found in South Africa.
To date, more than 3.3 million COVID-19 cases and over 80,000 deaths have been reported in Africa. Experts warn that the lack of testing and the difficulty of collecting accurate data from many African countries is likely to lead to a much higher number of cases and deaths. For example, South Africa carries out 10 times more tests per capita than Nigeria.
Related
Data source: DW