Cases surge across region

Thousands of new coronavirus cases have been reported in West Africa in recent weeks amid low vaccination rates and the spread of the delta variant.

Officials say cases have risen sharply in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and elsewhere. The surge is pushing a reluctant population to seek out vaccines in larger numbers at a time when doses are arriving from multiple sources after nearly stopping across Africa in recent months.

Confirmed cases in Senegal, which had been ahead in the fight against the virus, spiked from 380 on July 10 to 1,700 on July 18, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Health.

Senegal received nearly 300,000 Johnson & Johnson doses and more than 330,000 of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine in the past week. Tens of thousands of residents are waiting for a second dose of AstraZeneca, but it is out of stock and new deliveries are not expected until August.