A health worker in Abidjan vaccinates a person during an Ebola vaccination roll-out on August 17, 2020. This was after the country had its first case of the disease since 1994. (Photo taken by Issouf SANOGO / AFP). (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images).
The president of African Development Bank stated that African countries were "shortchanged" in accessing Covid-19 vaccines.
Akinwumi Adesina said Tuesday that Africa was "certainly being shortchanged" in terms of access to vaccines worldwide.
He stated that vaccines do not arrive in time, in sufficient quantity, or at the right price. It is all about timing.
According to Our World in Data, only 2.48 percent of the continent was fully vaccinated by Aug. 23. This is far less than other continents.
Compared to that, the vaccination rates in Asia are 25.31% and South America 27.1%, respectively, while Europe's inoculation rate is above 40%, according to statistics in Our World in Data.
He said, "If there is one lesson we have learned from all of this, it's that Africa shouldn't depend on the rest the world for critical vaccines and therapeutics."
