Vaccine Shortage Crushes Africa’s Hopes for an Economic Revival
Nations in the world’s poorest continent need effective inoculations, government stimulus, and debt relief to protect vulnerable citizens.
A resident arrives to register for the Covid-19 vaccination program outside the Bonang Community Health Centre, in Brits, South Africa on April 30.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
This should have been a promising year for Africa. Instead, a lack of access to vaccines threatens to make things worse.
After decades of progress in the continent’s fight against poverty, Covid-19 plunged 30 million Africans into “extreme poverty” last year—meaning they live on less than $1.90 a day. As many as 39 million more could follow in 2021, according to the African Development Bank. In the sub-Saharan region, per capita income in absolute terms fell to levels last seen almost a decade ago.