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Delta Air Lines Inc. will soon have restarted all Africa flights suspended during the pandemic, including a nearly 17-hour nonstop to Johannesburg from Atlanta that will be renewed Aug. 1.
Delta, which claims to be the leading U.S.-based carrier to the continent, also serves the Nigerian commercial center of Lagos from Atlanta and flies there as well as to Accra, Ghana, and Dakar, Senegal, from New York.
Still, the pandemic is by no means over and in fact may be entering its worst phase on the continent of more than 1 billion people. The flights are beginning as Africa’s 54 countries recorded a cumulative 250,000 cases a day over the last week, with the so-called delta variant surging and South Africa and other countries back into lockdown June 28. With hospitalizations on the rise, African CDC director John Nkengasong called the case increases a “brutal third wave,” especially given that less than 2 percent of Africa’s population has received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Dr. Nkengasong spoke to Atlanta audience about the importance of relaxing patent protections on vaccines as a way to get more jabs into arms, but he also noted the importance of decentralizing global health decision-making and giving Africa greater voice.
Read more here: Africa CDC Director: Vaccine Rampup Needs More Than Patent Waivers