Southern African Leaders Under Pressure to Ramp Up COVID Jabs

HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Amnesty International and 27 groups in southern Africa are calling for a faster pace of vaccinations as a new wave of coronavirus infections sweeps through the region. 

"A number of countries across southern Africa, including Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are currently in the midst of what could be the deadliest wave yet," said Robert Shivambu, spokesman for Amnesty International in Southern Africa, speaking via a messaging app from Johannesburg. "The lack of vaccines in the region with high levels of poverty and inequality means many people feel they are just waiting to die."  He said regional bloc SADC (Southern African Development Community) and the international community must work together to accelerate the vaccine rollout and ensure that as many people as possible are given jabs.  On Thursday, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the head of the World Health Organization in Africa, asked wealthier countries to start donating vaccine doses to the continent. She said richer countries have vaccinated 60 percent of their populations, while most African countries are at about 1 percent.