Welcome Remarks
- Good morning from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, and thank you to members of the press for joining today’s briefing.
- At this time, I will share updates on the COVID-19 situation on the continent, including our response efforts and updates on the vaccine situation.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | OVERVIEW
- As of today, January 06th, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total cases: Over 9.8 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, (9,886,819). This accounts for 3.3% of total cases reported globally.
- Total recoveries: Over 8.8 million people have recovered (8,813,594). This accounts for 89% of the total cases reported in Africa.
- Total deaths: Over 229,000 deaths have been reported (229,751). This results ina cumulative case fatality rate (CFR) of 2.3%,and accounts for 4.2% of deaths reported globally.
- The following five countries account for 62% of all cases reported in Africa.
- South Africa: 35% of total cases (3,475,512)
- Morocco: 10% of total cases (971,961)
- Tunisia: 7% of total cases (728,802)
- Ethiopia: 4% of total cases (428,796)
- Libya: 4% of total cases (390,938
- Case Fatality Rate (CFR): this week, 26 countries (47% of Member States), are reporting a CFR higher than the global average of 2%.
- 3 countries (Egypt, Somalia and Sudan) are reporting a CFR higher than 5%.
- 95% of Member States(52 countries) experienced the 3rd COVID-19 wave. 38 (69%) MS are experiencing a more severe 3rd wave.
- Since the last briefing, ONE additional country (Chad) Member States is experiencing a 3rd wave.
- FORTY-TWO countries are experiencing a 4th COVID-19 wave (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo Republic, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saharawi Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). 24 (44%) MS are experiencing a more severe 4th wave.
- Since the last briefing, NINE additional Member States (Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Morocco, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, and Sierra Leone) are experiencing a 4th wave.
- FIVE countries (Algeria, Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Mauritius and Somalia) are experiencing a 5th COVID-19 wave.
- Since the last briefing, ONE additional Member State (Congo Brazzaville) is experiencing a 5th wave.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | VARIANTS OF CONCERN (VOCs)
- 48 countries are now reporting the Alpha (B.1.1.7) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member States have reported this variant.
- 44 countries are now reporting the Beta (B.1.351) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member States have reported this variant.
- 46 countries are now reporting the Delta (B.1.617.2) VOC.
Since the last briefing, NO additional Member States have reported this variant.
- 6 Member States are reporting the Gamma (GR/501Y.V3/P.1+P.1.1+P.1.2) VOC. Since the last briefing, NO additional Member States have reported this variant.
- 33 Member States are now reporting the Omicron GR/484A (B.1.1.529). Since the last briefing, NINE additional Member States have reported this variant.
1. South Africa
2. Botswana
3. Nigeria
4. Ghana
5. Uganda
6. Zambia
7. Senegal
8. Tunisia
9. Mozambique
10. Namibia
11. Zimbabwe
12. Sierra Leone
13. Malawi
14. DRC
15. Rwanda
16. Algeria
17. Burkina Faso
18. Togo
19. Egypt
20. Kenya
21. Morocco
22. Mauritius
23. Angola
24. Guinea
25. Congo Brazzaville
26. Libya
27. Tanzania
28. Gabon
29. Mauritania
30. Burundi
31. Cape Verde
32. Côte d’Ivoire
33. Liberia
More details on VOCs are provided in our dashboard:
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | ONE-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
- The following are trends for epidemiological week 52 (27 December 2021 – 2 January 2022), compared to the previous epidemiological week 51 (20 – 26 December 2021):
- New cases: A total of 299,370 new cases were reported in Africa. This is a 5% increase from the previous week.
- The highest proportion of new cases is from the Southern region (49%). The other regions are as follows:
- Eastern region (25%)
- Western region (11%)
- Northern region (10%)
- Central region (5%)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest number of new cases:
- South Africa (58,896)
- Ethiopia (27,960)
- Zambia (24,828)
- Mozambique (20,220)
- Kenya (17,178)
- The following 5 countries are reporting the highest daily incidence per million population, (average number of new cases per million population per day):
- Cabo Verde (807)
- Seychelles (770)
- Botswana (418)
- Eswatini (219)
- Namibia (193)
- New deaths: A total of 1,496 new deaths were reported in Africa compared to 1,457 from the previous week. This represents a 3% increase in new deaths from the previous week.
COVID-19 Epidemiology Update | FOUR-WEEK TREND ANALYSIS
- The following are trends over the past 4 epidemiological weeks, (6 December 2021 – 2 January 2022):
- New cases: There has been an overall 36% average increase in new cases reported in Africa over the last 4 weeks.
- The following is a regional breakdown:
- 130% increase in the Eastern region
- 104% increase in the Western region
- 59% increase in the Central region
- 30% increase in the Southern region
- 24% increase in the Northern region
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Kenya: 238% average increase
- Ethiopia: 217% average increase
- Nigeria: 155% average increase
- DR Congo: 102% average Increase
- South Africa: 7% average increase
- Egypt: 2% average decrease
- New deaths: There has been an overall 8% average increase in new deaths reported in Africa each week.
- The following is a breakdown by the most populous countries in Africa:
- Nigeria: 249% average increase
- Kenya: 215% average increase
- South Africa: 34% average increase
- Ethiopia: 12% average increase
- Egypt: 16% average decrease
- DR Congo: No change
COVID-19 TESTING & MEDICAL SUPPLIES
- To date, over 89.9 million COVID-19 tests (89,916,084) have been conducted in African Union Member States since the pandemic started.
- Over 1.3 million new tests (1,351,798) were reported for epidemiological week 52 (22 December 2021 – 2 January 2022).
- This is a 13% decrease from the previous week when 1,539,538 tests were reported.
- The cumulative positivity rate is 11% and the test-per-case ratio is 9.1, similar to a positivity rate of 10.7% and test-per-case ratio of 9.3 in the previous week.
- 45% of Member States (25 countries) are reporting a test positivity rate higher than 12% this week.
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE
- With regards to the current progress of vaccinations across the continent – as of 5th December, African Union Member States are reporting the following:
- Total vaccine doses supplied: 547 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been procured by 54 Member States.
- Total vaccine doses administered: 326 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, which corresponds to 59.7% of the total supply available in Africa.
- Coverage: 9.6% of the population has been fully vaccinated on the continent.
- The following five countries have administered the most vaccine doses in Africa.
| Country | Doses administered | % of the supply | % of Population fully vaccinated |
| Morocco | 50.6 million | 85.5% | 62.2% |
| Egypt | 48.7 million | 69.3% | 17.8% |
| South Africa | 28.2 million | 89.3% | 26.9% |
| Nigeria | 15.6 million | 38.3% | 2.2% |
| Mozambique | 15.5 million | 76.3% | 22.1% |
More details are provided on our dashboard (https://africacdc.org/covid-19-vaccination/)
- Eritrea is the remaining AU Member States yet to start COVID-19 vaccine roll out.
AVAT J&J DELIVERIESThe total number of AVAT deliveries(J&J) to 34 AU member states totals about 32.5 M doses. These are Angola, Benin, Burundi, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, DRC, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe, and Burundi. Also, 12,000 doses were delivered to the African Union.
