Africa still sees COVID glass half empty — African CDC chief

Africa Still Sees COVID Glass Half Empty — African CDC Chief | GZERO Media

Is the pandemic over? Depends on where you are, according to Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"If you are sitting in Africa, they have the glasses half empty.

And if you are sitting in the global note, the glass might be half full," he said during a livestream discussion on equitable vaccine distribution hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Nkengasong explained that the optimism seen now in countries like the US or the UK, where so many people have been vaccinated, is "not exactly what we are seeing in the part of the world that I'm serving."

Africans are still very worried about COVID, he said. Across the continent, the pandemic is still seen as unpredictable, and its trajectory remains uncertain.

More from GZERO Media

Are you a reporter and writer with creative flair and an academic or professional background in international politics? Do you think it's more important than ever to help the general public understand the dizzying political changes in the world today? If so, you could be a strong candidate to fill our opening for a senior writer on the GZERO Daily newsletter team.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks, on the day of the 114th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, in Mexico City, Mexico November 20, 2024.

REUTERS/Raquel Cunha

The lower house of Mexico’s Congress approved the text of a constitutional proposal to scrap oversight bodies on Wednesday, a first step in the ruling Morena party’s goal of eliminating autonomous institutions and consolidating power.

World leaders assemble for a group photo at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on November 19, 2024. The gathering was overshadowed by Donald Trump's impending return to the White House.

REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

With Trump about to take power again, one of the world's most important multilateral gatherings was an exercise in cowardice and smallness.

Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party Pete Hoekstra speaks during the Michigan GOP's Election Night Party.
REUTERS/Emily Elconin

Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped former Michigan congressman and Netherlands ambassadorPete Hoekstra to be US ambassador to Canada.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2020.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Donald Trump’s election win has Canadian premiers worried about the future of free trade. Trump has promised to levy across-the-board tariffs of between 10 and 20%, but it’s unclear whether Canada would be included.

Striking Canada Post workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

After years of struggles with their employer, Canada Post, posties in Canada have gone on strike as the holiday season settles in.