Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia accounted for 83% of the new deaths recorded in the past week.

With case numbers doubling every three weeks, the Delta variant is spreading to a growing number of countries.

The COVID-19 upsurge comes as the vaccine supply crunch persists.

A lack of adherence to transmission prevention measures has fuelled the new surge that coincides with colder seasonal weather in southern Africa and as more contagious variants spread.

Just 2% of the continent’s nearly 1.3 billion people have received one dose and only 9.4 million Africans are fully vaccinated.

WHO has disbursed US$ 1.25 million to support the response in Guinea and to reinforce Ebola readiness in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Governments, private sector and manufacturers working together to procure enough vaccine doses to protect the most vulnerable populations on the continent.