By African standards, South Africa has bungled its Covid-19 vaccination campaign

I have some numbers for you. According to the Statista website, as of April 13, Morocco had administered 8 650 872 doses of Covid-19 vaccine. The figure for Nigeria was 964 387, for Ghana 742 349, Kenya 422 021, Senegal 351 372, Rwanda 348 926 and South Africa 292 623. Yes, South Africa ranks only seventh in Africa in terms of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered. How accurate are these figures? Well, the number given by Statista for South Africa is exactly the same number as that found on the South African Department of Health’s official Covid-19 website, so I think we can regard the figures as reliable.

In case you are wondering, eighth place is held by Angola (245 442 doses administered), ninth by Zimbabwe (234 579), tenth by Malawi (229 220), eleventh by Uganda (180 969), twelfth by Egypt (164 534), 13th by Tunisia (163 010) and 14th by Seychelles (108 749). That Egypt ranks so low is also striking, but we don’t live in Egypt.

Switch the focus from total numbers of doses administered, numbers of doses administered per 100 people, and South Africa’s result is even more dramatic, and entirely in a bad way. Now, in this rating, small countries with small populations rank highly, as it is easy for them to vaccinate large proportions of their populations. Thus, on this scale, the top ranked country is the Seychelles, which, according to Statista and as of April 17 (not April 13 as for the total numbers above), had administered 114.09 doses per 100 people (that is, people were already getting their second doses). And São Tomé and Princípe ranked third, with 4.44 per 100 people. eSwatini ranked sixth, at 2.38, Botswana eleventh with 1.34, Malawi 12th at 1.31.

So, what of the big countries, those in the top 14 in total numbers of doses administered? Well, in the number of doses administered per 100 people stakes, here is how they rank: Morocco is in second place, with 23.95, Rwanda is fourth with 2.7, Ghana fifth with 2.43, Senegal eighth with 2.27, Zimbabwe ninth with 2.05, Tunisia tenth with 1.71, Kenya 14th with 1.06, Angola 16th with 0.75, Nigeria 18th with 0.52, South Africa 19th with 0.49, Uganda 20th with 0.48, and Egypt 29th with 0.16.

More numbers. Again, according to Statista, last year South Africa had the third-largest gross domestic product (GDP) in Africa. First was Nigeria, with $442.98-billion. In second place was Egypt, at $361.88-billion, while South Africa’s GDP came to $282.59-billion. For comparison, Kenyan GDP was $101.05-billion, Ghanaian was $67.34-billion, and Senegalese was $24.41-billion.

With regard to GDP per capita, South Africa ranks seventh. But the first six are all either small or very resource-rich or both (they are, from first to sixth, Seychelles, Mauritius, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya and Botswana). Note, these are 2019 statistics, not 2020. South Africa is, in GDP per capita terms, far and away the leader among Africa’s major economies, with a figure of $7 346. Morocco comes next (in overall 13th place) at $3 396. Angola follows at 14th overall ($3 104), Egypt at 15th ($3 009), Nigeria 17th ($2 387), and Ghana 18th ($1 884).

However you cut it, slice it or dice it, the numbers are clear – in comparison to the other major African economies, excepting only Egypt, South Africa’s performance regarding Covid-19 vaccination has been dreadful. Countries that South Africans, of all backgrounds, had once looked down on as not being serious or even competent, have shown themselves to be quietly efficient in rolling out vaccines to their peoples. That Egypt is even worse than South Africa should be of no comfort. Of course, South Africa will eventually catch up with these countries, but how many people will have unnecessarily died in the interim? How much extra damage will have been inflicted on the South African economy?

Like it or not, despite the country’s wealth and relative development, South Africa’s national government has displayed very serious incompetence on the issue. And I haven’t yet mentioned its bungling of the AstraZeneca-Oxford (AZO) vaccine, buying it and then selling it because a single study suggested that it would not benefit younger healthcare workers. Why were the South African health authorities unable to rapidly pivot and start giving elderly South Africans the AZO vaccine, while, in parallel, using another vaccine for the younger health workers? Why, in the face of a pandemic, are the country’s procedures so rigid? Answers and solutions need to be found. Who knows when the next pandemic will come, or how deadly it will be?

Finally, to totally change the topic: this will be my last ‘Wheels within wheels’ column. Today, April 30, is my last day as a full-time employee of Creamer Media. I am retiring. My first day at the company was also a Friday, oddly enough. It felt weird to come to the office for one day and then have a weekend! That first day was May 1, 1997, so I will have worked for the company for exactly 24 years. I love the symbolism of that circularity (in reality, it’s a spiral, because I am far above the point at which I started out all those years ago). Actually, worked isn’t the right term. I’ve had fun for 24 years. I love writing, I love educating and informing people, so science, technology and industrial journalism has been a joy for me. I also found myself doing video stories (which look easy but are a lot of work). Engineering News & Mining Weekly is a world-class publication that has, I am certain, been among the leaders in South African media in adapting to, and exploiting the opportunities of, the digital revolution. In fact, in many regards, I suspect that we were and are the leaders. But, as those of you who know me are aware, I am completing a massive personal transformation and it is time for me to launch into the new phase of my life. Thanks for reading my stories, thanks for answering my questions, thanks for your tolerance and understanding. But don’t relax. I won’t be totally gone. I’ll still be contributing stories, primarily to Engineering News Online, but on a freelance basis.