SA PREPARING FOR MORE COVID ADMISSIONS - RAMAPHOSA
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa says the country is preparing for more hospital admissions, as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread to become a fourth wave of infections.
In his weekly newsletter, President says the number of daily infections has increased five- fold over the last week.
He urges South Africans to get vaccinated, calling it an "urgent priority" that will also help economic recovery.
Ramaphosa also encourages the use of face masks, social distancing and avoiding crowds to reduce the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, Africa has little chance of overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic unless 70 percent of its population is vaccinated by end-2022, yet "extreme vaccine discrimination" is leaving the continent behind, a report published yesterday said.
The discovery of the Omicron variant in southern Africa has heightened claims that low inoculation rates can encourage viral mutations, which can then spread to countries where rates are much higher.
Yet only five of Africa's 54 countries are on track to reach a World Health Organisation target of fully vaccinating 40 percent of the population by end-2021, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said in a report on Covid-19 in Africa.
One in 15 Africans has been fully vaccinated, against nearly 70 percent in the G7 group of richer nations, according to data from the foundation, which was set up by the Sudanese telecoms billionaire to promote better governance and economic development in Africa.
"From early in this crisis, our Foundation and other African voices have been warning that an un-vaccinated Africa could become a perfect incubator for variants," its chair Mo Ibrahim said in a statement.
He added: The emergence of Omicron reminds us that Covid-19 remains a global threat, and that vaccinating the whole world is the only way forward. Yet we continue to live with extreme vaccine discrimination, and Africa in particular is being left behind.
Vaccines have been in short supply in Africa after developed countries secured initial orders from pharmaceutical companies and the global vaccine-sharing programme, COVAX, got off to a slow start.
Deliveries of vaccines to Africa have picked up in recent months, but weak healthcare systems and limited infrastructure are holding back rollouts once they arrive, the repor t said. –
BBC.