A young woman is getting a Pfizer jab in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg.
Denis Farrell.
The European Union is planning to stop air travel from southern Africa to counter the spread of a new variant of the disease.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that a new variant would cause more problems.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that she wants to stop air travel from the southern African region.
Scientists say that a new coronaviruses variant is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in the country's most populous province.
Germany said von der Leyen's proposal could be enacted as soon as Friday night. German citizens returning from South Africa will only be able to be transported home by airlines, and travelers will need to be in a state of quachicine for 14 days, according to Spahn.
Germany has seen a record number of cases in the last few days and passed the 100,000 deaths mark on Thursday.
The EU is particularly hard hit by the fourth spike of the coronaviruses, with governments scrambling to tighten restrictions in an attempt to contain the spread. The flight ban proposal came after Britain did the same.
The U.K. banned flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries at noon on Friday, and anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronaviruses test.
The new variant may be more transmissible than the dominant strain, and the vaccines we currently have may be less effective against it, according to the U.K. Health Secretary.
The coronaviruses evolve as it spreads and many of them die out. It can take time to sort out whether a new variant will have a public health impact.
Travelers from South Africa have found the new variant in Hong Kong.
The World Health Organization's technical working group is to meet Friday to assess the new variant and possibly give it a name from the Greek alphabet.
In the past week, coronaviruses infections jumped in Europe, the only region in the world where COVID-19 continues to rise. The WHO's Europe director warned that the continent could see another 700,000 deaths by the spring without urgent measures.
The EU has a mechanism to deal with emergencies.
If the situation of a third country or region gets worse quickly, member states should impose an urgent, temporary restriction on all travel into the EU. EU citizens, long-term EU residents, and certain categories of essential travelers should not be subject to this emergency brake, even if fully vaccined.
The restrictions should be reviewed at least once a fortnight.
