The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns of a "dangerous moment" for the African continent in view of the spreading delta variant in Africa and the slow progress in vaccination.
According to an IMF blog post, Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the sharpest increase in new infections worldwide.
Accordingly, it is to be feared that the "explosive development" of an already looming third corona wave could turn out to be even worse than the first and second.
In some countries, significantly higher new infections were reported.
The delta variant, it says in the article, has already been proven in 14 African countries. So far, more than 5.5 million corona cases have been reported across the continent. The total number is low compared to other regions of the world: Africa accounts for three percent of all cases of infection worldwide and has so far had 52 million tests. The vaccinations are also relatively low: almost 50 million vaccinations were carried out. That's less than one percent with full vaccination, writes the IMF. Officially, almost 143,000 people died in connection with Corona. South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Kenya are particularly badly affected.
Meanwhile, the Corona special envoy of the African Union, Strive Masiyiwa, criticized the European Union on Thursday: “Not a single dose left the production facilities in the EU that went to Africa - we were referred to India.” Masiyiwa demanded: “It is now It's time for Europe to open the production facilities. ”Africa urgently needs Covid-19 vaccines. Of the 700 million cans planned for this year, only 65 million are on the continent.
Hope is given by the in-house production that is starting up.
Starting in August, a pharmaceutical company in South Africa will manufacture a total of 400 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for a year and deliver them on the continent and to Caribbean countries.
"We have learned our lesson, we cannot rely on others to ensure vaccine safety on the continent," said John Nkengasong of the pan-African health organization Africa CDC.
A third corona wave would have serious consequences for the economy, according to the IMF's blog entry.
Sub-Saharan Africa could suffer even more from being left behind by the global economy.