Zweli Mkhize: Africa Will Suffer the Most If Vaccine Hogging Continues
- SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has said that African countries will suffer the most if other countries continue to hoard Covid-19 vaccinations
- According to Mkhize, the African continent will need to vaccinate at least 780 million people to avoid being the continent that becomes the source of Covid-19 in future
- South Africa, which has the highest infection rate of all other African countries, recently received a million doses of the vaccine
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South Africa Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has said warned that the continuous hoarding of vaccinations by other countries will have dire consequences for the African continent and its people.
According to Mkhize, Africa will need to vaccinate at least 780 million people in order to avoid becoming a future source of Covid-19 once people from other continents across the world have all been vaccinated.
In the same breath, Mkhize said that African countries should prepare for a possible third wave of Covid-19 infections, which is why other countries hoarding vaccinations is simply unacceptable and will leave Africa bearing a heavy burden.
“What we have seen also that is a challenge is that there have already been pronouncements to the fact that no one can travel to various countries unless they are already vaccinated. The hoarding of the vaccine is a huge issue once again.
"Africa has got a risk of remaining behind and being the one that has got the least vaccinated, but carrying the highest burden of the infection,” says the minister.
Source: Getty Images
Locals have had this to say:
@KefentseRafs said:
"How coz even African numbers are low. Way too low."
@Skatiq3 said:
"Again begging for vaccines. It's really making us look like beggars."
@SAFirst6 said:
"Corruption, nepotism, incompetence are all traits that will accelerate the impact of the pandemic on Africa, including SA.@DrZweliMkhize"
Briefly.co.za previously reported that lobal statistics show that Mzansi is set for national inoculation by mid-2022. According to a map showing global vaccine timeline, South Africa is expected to have vaccinated 60% to 70% of their adult population against the coronavirus by mid-2022.
South African government officials welcomed the first batch of one million Covid-19 doses from India on Monday, 1 February. According to the stats, in many of the world’s developing nations, including large parts of Africa, the vaccination timeline is expected to extend into 2023.
The cheap and easy-to-store AstraZeneca variety will be given out to poorer countries through the Covax initiative. Russia, India and China are also vying for contracts for their vaccine varieties.
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Source: Briefly News
