African countries acquire over 61m COVID-19 vaccines: Africa CDC

John Nkengasong, Africa's Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), speaks during an interview with Reuters at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 11, 2020. Picture taken March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Some 51 African countries have acquired about 61.4 million Covid-19 vaccines so far, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday.

The Africa CDC, is a specialised healthcare agency of the African Union, said around 1.12 percent of Africa’s population have received a full vaccine regimen.

Some 48.6 million of the total 61.4 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered, the Africa CDC said.

Five countries, namely Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa have acquired and administered the most doses of COVID-19 vaccines to their respective populations, according to the agency.

The North African country Morocco has so far administered 17.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, accounting for 22 percent of the country’s total population, it was noted.

As of Thursday, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa had reached 5,288,323, with 139,226 deaths and 4,669,913 recoveries, according to the agency.

South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt are the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC. – Business Mail