Prognosis
Africa Vaccine Drive Slowed by Indemnity Spat, Pfizer Choice
- Seven African nations yet to begin issuing Covid-19 shots
- Chad has said it only wants Pfizer’s coronavirus inoculation
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A drive to get Africans vaccinated against the coronavirus is being hamstrung by governments’ reluctance to sign indemnity clauses, a preference for Pfizer Inc. vaccines over other more readily available shots and a lack of preparedness to distribute the inoculations.
Delays in vaccinating the continent’s more than 1.3 billion people will likely lead to additional resurgences of the virus, may result in mutations that will potentially be more transmissible and could lead to economic damage associated with strict lockdowns. Less than 20 million people have been inoculated in Africa, with almost half of those living in Morocco, according to Bloomberg’s Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker.