The coronavirus has once again laid siege to the country, leading to last week’s lockdown in Kigali and eight other most affected districts. It‘s a trend around the continent lamented by the WHO in a brief last Thursday. The surge in infections, which is partly driven by the presence of the highly transmissible Delta variant, is being seen in 21 African countries But it is the sharp increase of 43 per cent of coronavirus-linked deaths in the space of just a week that underscores the threat the virus situation poses. 6,273 people lost their lives in that fateful week of 5th July, mainly due to lack of intensive-care beds and oxygen. Such a peak was last witnessed in January when almost an equal number – 6,294 – was recorded. So far, more than 150,000 Covid-19 deaths have been reported in Africa since the beginning of the pandemic. This accounts for 4 per cent of deaths reported globally. If such high numbers of fatalities should persist, this percentage could drastically change. A close eye is therefore being paid to the rate of infections, and the trend doesn’t look good. COVID-19 cases on the continent have risen for eight consecutive weeks in the current third wave, topping six million last week. The speed of infections is alarming. An additional one million cases were recorded over the past month, marking the shortest time to reach the grim milestone of six million. Comparatively, it took roughly three months for cases to jump from four million to five million. WHO says the surge is being driven by public fatigue with key health measures and an increased spread of virus variants. In addition to the Delta variant detected in 21 countries, the Alpha and Beta variants have been found in more than 30 countries each. Lockdowns to curb the spread cannot go on forever, while surges are bound to recur. Vaccination is the only long term solution. Last week, the US said it is shipping 25 million vaccine doses to the continent. While this is welcome, the gesture also serves to show how vaccination rollout in Africa continues to be extremely slow. Roughly 1.5 per cent of the continent’s population, or 18 million people, are fully vaccinated, compared with over 50 per cent in some high-income countries. And, with the many months it has taken exhorting the rich countries to share their hoarded vaccines, patience is fraying. Aside from exasperated African leaders, influential voices on global platforms are increasingly expressing their frustrations in uncharacteristically strong terms. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus is especially acerbic: “Greed,” he termed last week the motives behind the vaccine inequality perpetuating the gulf between the haves and have-nots. “Some countries and regions are actually ordering millions of booster doses before other countries have had supplies to vaccinate their health workers and most vulnerable,” he reiterates. Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Managing Director of Operations, terms the inequality “unacceptable,” admonishing the bank’s major donors in a manner not usually witnessed. This is a global disease that requires a global solution that means that we need to fight, need to help all countries and not only a few countries have access, he told AFP. Recent pledges on vaccine sharing, including from the G7, are nowhere near the 11 billion doses required to reach global herd immunity. To date, the COVAX facility has only been able to deliver 4 per cent of the shots administered globally, falling well short of its targets. This compelled it to lower its targets for this year from 27 per cent coverage of low- and middle-income countries to 23 per cent. The immediate challenge for the continent is to stop the third wave of infections even as it awaits pledges including by the World Bank in partnership with the African Union to deliver 400 million doses.
