"It will be extremely terrible to see" rich countries receiving COVID-19 vaccines while African countries go without, especially as a new surge in cases begins on the continent of 1.3 billion people, Africa’s top public health official said on Thursday. As the world watches mass vaccinations begin in Britain, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong has warned that Africa might not see vaccines until after the second quarter of 2021.

Nkengasong called it a "moral issue" and urged the United Nations to summon a special session to discuss the ethical, fair distribution of vaccines to avoid "this North-South distrust in respect to vaccines, which is a common good."