Africa 'in a bind' over scarce Covid shots: disease control body

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Africa is “in a bind” over coronavirus vaccines, as some countries could run out of jabs without knowing when more will be available, the continent's disease control body has said.

“We are in a bind as a continent,” Dr John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a press conference.

“Access to vaccines has been limited for us as a continent and it's affecting the way in which we roll out our vaccination programme,” AFP quoted him as saying.

He highlighted the case of Ghana, which he said had already administered “70 to 80 per cent” of its current supply of shots, most of which came via Covax. “Even if Ghana had the money it would not know where to go get the vaccine,” Nkengasong said.

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