More than a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the microscopic coronavirus has in many ways revealed the vulnerability of low-income countries, as well as their dependency on the global north.

The virus might seem well under control, but the fact is, this is not the reality in many countries in Africa. Embattled with insufficient numbers of hospital beds, oxygen supplies and vaccine shortages, Africa’s growing population of over 1.3 million faces the risk of a catastrophic third wave, judging by the increase in daily infection rates in the continent.

According to recent reports, only 1.24% of Africa’s population has been fully vaccinated, despite accounting for 2.9% (over 5million) of total cases globally. In countries like Ghana, only 2.78% of its 30 million population have been vaccinated. In the following infographics, we break down the latest figures on Covid-19 cases and reports to show vaccination progress or lack of it in Africa.

Are Cases Rising?

New Covid-19 cases have been on the rise for six weeks and running, moving from an average of 25% week-on-week to 5,775,157 cases this week.

“The speed and scale of Africa’s third wave are like nothing we’ve seen before. The rampant spread of more contagious variants pushes the threat to Africa up to a whole new level,” says Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

According to Africa CDC, 21 countries on the continent have so far experienced the third wave of infections, with a select few being the worst hit.

The following visualization shows the breakdown of vaccinations by those that have been fully vaccinated in the African continent. Note that data is only available for countries that have shared reports on their vaccination campaign.