(3 MINUTES READ)
· South Africa announced yesterday ( Friday) that it would start vaccinating people under 50 years as the country is reeling under the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic driven by the Delta variant
· Only two weeks ago, South Africa reduced the age limit for vaccination to those under 60’s
· Experts fear that what is happening in South Africa might happen in other countries in the continent, where the vaccination rate is very low.
South Africa announced yesterday (Friday) that it would start vaccinating people under 50 years as the country is reeling under the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic driven by the Delta variant. Only two weeks ago, South Africa reduced the age limit for vaccination to those under 60.
Acting Health Minister of South Africa Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said that the country would be vaccinating the 35 to 49 age group from August 1. South Africa accounts for 37 percent of the continent’s infections. There are more than 2.1 million detected coronavirus cases in South Africa, followed by Morocco and Tunisia. The former has 8 percent of the infected persons and the latter 9% respectively.
Most of the countries in Africa have a very low vaccination rate. Experts fear that what is happening in South Africa might happen in other countries in the continent, where the vaccination rate is very low. South Africa has got 5.6 percent of the population vaccinated, which is very low compared to other countries in other continents. The average rate of vaccination in Africa works out to less than 1 percent, indicating the high risk of the continent from the pandemic. The government recently approved the use of Chinese vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm. Earlier, South Africa approved the Pfizer- ioNTech and Johnson & Johnson jabs for rollout in the country.
