African countries acquire more than 181 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccines

ADDIS ABABA - African countries have acquired 181.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in the latest weekly briefing held Thursday.

The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said around 4.06 percent of Africa's population have been fully vaccinated.

Some 136.3 million of the total 181.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far, the Africa CDC said.

Five countries, namely Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia have acquired and administered the most doses of COVID-19 vaccines to their respective populations, according to the agency.

The North African country of Morocco has so far administered 39.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, accounting for about 48.63 percent of the country's total population.

The Africa CDC also disclosed that at least 70,739,842 COVID-19 tests have been conducted by African countries so far.

The Africa CDC further said 1,260,247 new tests were carried out during the past week, registering an 11 percent decrease from tests carried out in the previous week.