Vaccine shortages and surging cases: A COVID-19 Africa snapshot*
Friday, July 30, 2021
Everyday struggle: A motorcyclist passes a COVID-19 awareness campaign message in Kampala, Uganda PIC: TNH
Continent-wide, recorded infections are at over six million, with more than 153,000 official deaths. The highly transmissible Delta variant is now prevalent in 16 countries, and is surging through unvaccinated populations.
“The worst is yet to come,” Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional director for Africa, has warned. “The end to this precipitous rise is still weeks away.”
The rise in defilement and missing persons cases, particularly over the recent festive period, points not merely to a failure of policing, but to a profound and widespread societal crisis. Whilst the Police chief’s plea is rightly directed at parents, the root of this emergency runs deeper, demanding a collective response from every corner of our community. Marathe’s observations paint a picture of neglect with children left alone for...