John Nkengasong

The African Union’s vaccine task team said on Friday that Russia had offered it 300 million doses of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine and that the offer included a financing package for countries wanting to secure the shots.

Africa's total reported death toll from Covid-19 was approaching 100 000 on Thursday, a fraction of those reported on other continents but rising fast as a second wave of infections overwhelms hospitals.

African countries that have not reported the circulation of the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa should proceed with the rollout of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the African Union's disease control body said on Thursday.

African leaders will open a two-day virtual summit Saturday to discuss the continent's Covid-19 response as well as security issues that have been overlooked during the pandemic.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent stood at 3,515,047 as of Friday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The African Union has secured an additional 400 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for its members, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.

Africa’s coronavirus case fatality rate has risen alarmingly to 2.5%, higher than the global level of 2.2%, the head of the continent’s disease control body said on Thursday.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC), on Thursday said that African countries do not have an adequate oxygen supply to treat all patients during the second wave of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

African governments must take urgent steps to prepare for distribution of coronavirus vaccines, the continent's health watchdog said on Thursday, after the African Union announced it had secured 270 million doses.

The second wave of coronavirus hitting Africa is “more aggressive” than the first, according to the head of the African Centres for Disease Control (CDC), John Nkengasong.

Another new variant of the novel coronavirus seems to have emerged in Nigeria, the head of Africa's disease control body said on Thursday, cautioning more investigation was needed.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday urged the African continent to brace itself for possible second wave COVID-19 infections.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday urged the African continent to brace itself for possible second wave COVID-19 infections.

A Nigerian gender and disability rights advocate, Hauwa Ojeifo, has won the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation changemaker award for 2020.

All countries should join hands in a global effort to procure and distribute potential vaccines against the coronavirus across the globe, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa surged to 1,084,687 as the death toll rose to 24,660.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Wednesday revealed the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa surged to 1,064,546 as the death toll rose to 23,839.

The number of COVID-19 cases on the African continent have surpassed 1 million, figures from the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) showed on Friday, with South Africa the worst-affected.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, says there are a lot of ongoing programmes on the COVID-19 vaccine research and that a vaccine may be available within the next six to 12 months.

African countries urgently need to scale up coronavirus testing and the use of face masks, a regional disease control body said on Thursday, as the epidemic gains traction across the continent with confirmed cases topping half a million.

African leaders have lauded the launch of the continent's first medical supplies platform as the "jewel in the crown of Pan-African cooperation".

African nations are facing a surge of COVID-19 cases with less than one intensive care bed and one ventilator per 100,000 people, a Reuters survey has found.