Africa on course to reach vaccination target by the end of 2022

The African continent is on course to reach the vaccination target of at least 70% of its population by the end of 2022, according to the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC.

Current figures suggest that 11% of the continent's 1.3 billion people are fully vaccinated.

The public health official said he was encouraged by a surge in vaccinations in countries like Nigeria, where vaccine hesitancy appears to be waning.

Director John Nkengasong added that the continent’s vaccination target is achievable if current trends are maintained and vaccination is ramped up across countries.

The Africa CDC says that 580 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been received in Africa so far and 64% of these have been administered.

The director added that studies conducted in several countries suggest that about 80% of the population of thoae countries is ready to be vaccinated.