What about us?

As UK begins mass vaccination and other Western nations prepare for inoculations against COVID-19, Africa's top public health official asks when they will be vaccinated

"It will be extremely terrible to see" rich countries receiving COVID-19 vaccines while African countries go without, especially as a new surge in cases begins on the continent of 1.3 billion people, Africa’s top public health official said on Thursday. As the world watches mass vaccinations begin in Britain, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong has warned that Africa might not see vaccines until after the second quarter of 2021.

Nkengasong called it a "moral issue" and urged the United Nations to summon a special session to discuss the ethical, fair distribution of vaccines to avoid "this North-South distrust in respect to vaccines, which is a common good."

COVID-19 will not be defeated in the West alone, he said, and he took aim at "today’s dialogue of suspicion" as rich nations buy vaccines "in excess of their needs while we in Africa are still struggling with the COVAX facility," the multinational initiative designed to deliver at least some vaccines to less developed countries.

Africa won’t receive nearly enough vaccines from COVAX to reach the goal of vaccinating 60% of the population to achieve herd immunity, Nkengasong said, and he appealed to nations with excess doses to give them to COVAX or countries in need. Africa’s 54 countries now have a total of more than 2.3 million confirmed infections, including 1,00,000 in the past week.

South Africa is seeing a dramatic rise in cases and bracing for increased hospitalisations and deaths, said the country’s health minister Zweli Mkhize. "It is important for us to recognise that this now is a second wave," said Mkhize in a statement.

3,85,477
Total no. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

6,81,65,877
Total no. of cases worldwide

15,72,423
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

Keep scrolling to read more news

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!