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

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers the State of the European Union address to the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, September 10, 2025.
REUTERS/Yves Herman

While the European Union has never been more critical, it is also facing a trifecta of divisive challenges.

In this episode of “Local to global: The power of small business,” host JJ Ramberg sits down with Chapin Flynn, Senior Vice President of Transit and Urban Mobility at Mastercard, and Mark Langmead, Director of Revenue & Compass Operations at TransLink in Vancouver, to explore how cities are making transit easier, faster, and more seamless for riders–an approach known as frictionless urban mobility.

United States President Donald J Trump awaits the arrival Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on November 18, 2025. Featuring: Donald J Trump Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 18 Nov 2025
Credit: Anna Rose Layden/POOL via CNP
A photo taken on September 14, 2024, shows seafood at Jimiya fishing port in Qingdao, China, on September 14, 2024. On September 20, 2024, China and Japan reach a consensus on the issue of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and China states that it will gradually resume the import of Japanese aquatic products that meet the regulations.
(Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto)