Middle East & Africa | Picking their shots

Should Africa make covid-19 vaccination a priority?

Other public-health problems are crying out for attention

|DAKAR, KAMPALA AND MOROTO

OVER THE summer a lack of supply was the main problem. Africans queued from dawn for jabs of covid-19 vaccine, but most doses were going to rich countries. India, a big producer, banned exports. The results were grim. Senegal saw seven times the number of funerals as in normal times, according to some estimates. Gravediggers in other African countries were working overtime, too. Today only 7% of Africans are fully vaccinated against the disease.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Picking their shots”

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