Africa likely to miss the 40% year-end vaccination target

Vaccine update:

• Globally, more than 7.26 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries at a rate of 31.4 million doses a day.
• The WHO noted that less than 10% of African countries may have reached the 40% vaccination target by year-end.
• The Seychelles, Mauritius and Morocco have met the goal that was set in May by the WHO; Tunisia and Cabo Verde may also reach the target.
• However, limited access to crucial commodities such as syringes may further slow the rollout of vaccines on the continent.
• Locally, 23.151 million vaccines have been administered to date; 10,930 vaccines were administered yesterday. 

International travel tracker:

Bloomberg tracks international travel rules (including restrictions), vaccination rates and local public health guidelines of over 70 global business and leisure destinations as the world re-opens. The results are summarised below:

• Most accessible destinations: Madrid, Barcelona, Vienna, Paris
• Least accessible destinations: Moscow, Sydney, Jakarta, Hong Kong
• Most restricted destinations: Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney
• Public health measures – moving from least open to most open cities: Bangkok
• Moving from moderately open to most open cities: Phuket, Sao Paulo
• Moving from most open to moderately open cities: Amsterdam

 Global cases update:

• Cases have surpassed 250.61 million, while the death toll has surpassed 5.06 million; recoveries are at 226.86 million.
• The US has 47.33 million cases, accounting for 18% of global cases; the US death toll is 775,218. 
• India has 34.36 million cases and 461,043 deaths; Brazil has 21.88 million cases and 609,484 deaths.
• Japan reported zero Covid deaths for the first time in 15 months; Japan is expected to ease border control measures this week.
• China’s stringent curbs will remain in place to curb the spread of the virus. 
• The UK hasn't ruled out further lockdowns; the UK is expected to roll out Merck's antiviral pill this month.
• Pfizer has announced that its antiviral pill reduces Covid hospitalisations and deaths substantially.
• The US is lifting entry restrictions for more than 30 countries to allow in fully vaccinated travellers, including China and India.

 Africa cases update:

• Africa’s Covid-19 cases are at 8.60 million; fatalities are at 220,054.
• Morocco has 947,396 reported cases, Nigeria 212,713, Ghana 130,391, Kenya 253,833.
• Southern Africa is the most affected region, followed by the northern and eastern parts of the African continent.

South Africa cases update:

• SA currently has the 18th highest caseload, at 2.923 million; 205 new cases were reported yesterday.
• Active cases are at 16,521; the Western Cape leads the way, with 5,822 active cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 3,299.
• Covid-19 deaths rose by 13 yesterday, to 89,332; 2.818 million people (or 96.4%) have recovered from the virus.
• 18.724 million tests have been conducted since 5 March 2020; 24,629 tests were conducted yesterday.
• The SA positivity rate is 0.8%.

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