WHO said Africa-bound COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India have been delayed for the foreseeable future.
“The tragedy in India does not have to happen here in Africa, but we must all be on the highest possible alert,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said in a press briefing.
India has been battling a devastating second wave of the pandemic, with the country recording an exponential rise in daily cases. Many experts say the spread of India’s double mutant variant may be the reason for the massive spike.
Delays and shortages of vaccine supplies are driving African countries to slip further behind the rest of the world in the coronavirus vaccine rollout and Africa now accounts for only 1% of the vaccines administered worldwide, down from 2% a few weeks ago, WHO said in a statement.
“While we call for vaccine equity, Africa must also knuckle
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