Africa CDC slams Canada's closure to unvaccinated travelers

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) criticized a recent decision by Canada to close its borders to international arrivals not vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

"@AfricaCDC warned that the scenario was imminent once some countries have vaccinated a substantial portion of their population. This decision by Canada will further exacerbate inequities and make it harder to win the global fight against COVID-19," John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa CDC, said on Twitter.

Last week, Canadian President Justin Trudeau told a press conference in British Columbia that unvaccinated international travelers would not be allowed into the country.

African countries have so far vaccinated less than 2% of the continent's population against COVID-19 as calls for measures to ameliorate global inoculation inequities continue to grow.

According to the Africa CDC's latest updates, 70.4 million doses of vaccines have been supplied across the continent, while the number of doses administered stood at 52.8 million.

Africa has recorded 5,926,224 total cases, 151,386 deaths and 5,162,088 recoveries, according to figures last updated on Sunday by the African CDC.