COVID-19 cases are declining slightly but remain stubbornly high.

Almost 100 million children have been vaccinated against polio since July 2020, after activities were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaccine shipments seem to be taking off but Africa is encountering headwinds.

—Benedict Okey Oramah, President of Afreximbank and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the African Union COVID-19 Response Fund.

—Benedict Okey Oramah, President of Afreximbank and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the African Union COVID-19 Response Fund.

The first time Africa has undertaken a continent-wide procurement of this magnitude, the vaccines are sufficient to immunise a third of the African people.

Over 6400 deaths were recorded, a 2% rise compared with the previous week.

The rise in vaccine shipments comes as Africa sees its second week of falling case numbers after a steep and unbroken eight-week surge.

Ghana was the first country in the world to receive vaccines through COVAX in late February.

Over 1 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses arrived on Saturday from the US.

WHO urges African countries to urgently ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations as the squeeze on vaccine shipments eases.

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