The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday warned that Africa may have to wait until the mid of 2021 to start mass COVID-19 vaccinations, reported CGTN Africa.
“We are very concerned as a continent that we will not have access to vaccines in a timely fashion,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa CDC, told Reuters. “It will not be, in my view, up to (the) middle of next year before we truly start to get vaccination into Africa.”
He added that it will be extremely dangerous if more developed countries vaccinate themselves and then restrict travel to people with proof of vaccination. He also voiced concern over logistical problems that may hinder the safe distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Notably, various organizations are in the final stages of vaccine approval process across the world.
As of Thursday, Africa had reported 2,106,931 confirmed COVID-19 infections with 50,628 deaths, according to the Africa CDC. The total number of deaths related to the pandemic stood at 50,628.
South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Ethiopia are among the most coronavirus affected African countries in terms of the number of coronavirus cases.
The southern African region is the most coronavirus affected region in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases as well as the number of deaths. The Northern African region is the second most affected African region, according to the Africa CDC.
South Africa has reported the most COVID-19 cases, which hit 778,571. The country also has the highest number of deaths related to the deadly virus, at 21,289.
Earlier this week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made an appeal to the G20 nations to help Africa cope with the financial and economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. He urged that all countries should get access to the vaccine once it is available as global recovery is very important.
