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Africa Could Start Producing COVID-19 Vaccines In 9 Months

While Western countries are speeding ahead with their vaccination programmes, Africa and the rest of the global South are still lagging far behind. Not for too long if all goes well according to the World Health Organisation!

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic it seemed as though the entire world was navigating the same rough seas. Now, however, it appears that some countries are cruising in mega yachts, while poorer countries are paddling in leaking kayaks.

If all goes according to plan, things are about to change. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced that it will be setting up a technology transfer hub for producing mRNA, the latest vaccine technology currently used in Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. This technology transfer hub could see a number of vaccines manufactured between 9 and 12 months.

With the rest of the world moving fast with its vaccination programmes, COVID-19 threatens to become a third world disease. Currently, the continent is experiencing a devastating third wave which threatens the lives and wellbeing of millions of people. As it stands, a mere 1 percent of the continent's population has been vaccinated.

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News Brief
Photo by ER Lombard/Gallo Images via Getty Images.

COVID-19 Cases Surge To Five Million In Africa

As the world approaches a post-pandemic era, South Africa, Kenya, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Ethiopia and Egypt top the list of countries contributing to Africa's alarming five million COVID-19 cases.

Africa has reportedly reached a highly concerning number of COVID-19 cases. Recent statistics show that over five million Africans have contracted the coronavirus since its discovery in 2019. These numbers are alarming despite Africa's large population of over 1.2 billion, marking a reported increase of 16 percent in death rates. South Africa, which is officially in a third wave, leads the numbers and accounts for almost half of the deaths across the continent. On the contrary, cases globally have been declining for the sixth consecutive week.

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