South Africa's vaccine train takes doses to poor areas

South Africa has sent a train carrying COVID-19 vaccines into one of its poorest provinces to get doses to areas where healthcare facilities are stretched

SWARTKOPS, South Africa -- When Wongalwethu Mbanjwa tried to get a COVID-19 vaccination and found his local center closed, a friend told him there was another option: Get one on the train.

So Mbanjwa did.

Not any train, but South Africa's vaccine train — which has now made its way to the small town of Swartkops on the country's south coast. Carrying doctors, nurses and, crucially, vaccine doses, it has a mission to bring vaccines closer to people in small towns and poorer parts of South Africa, which has the continent's highest number of coronavirus infections at more than 2.8 million.

The train is parked at the Swartkops rail station, the first stop on a three-month journey through the poor Eastern Cape province. It will stay for about two weeks at a time at seven stations in the province to vaccinate as many people as possible.