Prognosis
Africa Needs Sixfold Rise in Weekly Vaccinations, WHO Says
- Continent lags on targets with 10% of people fully vaccinated
- WHO says omicron surge may be starting to plateau in Africa
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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The number of Africans being inoculated against Covid-19 needs to climb to 34 million people a week, from 6 million currently, if the least vaccinated continent is to reach the World Health Organization’s target of 70% of its people fully covered by mid-year.
While vaccine supplies to the continent have improved recently, slow rollouts are hindering efforts to reach this goal, Alain Poy, head of the WHO’s vaccine preventable disease program in Africa said in a briefing Thursday. The organization has prepared teams to aid countries that are struggling to get shots in arms, he said.