African countries scramble to bury virus dead, get vaccines

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Shipping containers have become overflow mortuaries for the dead from COVID-19 in South Africa, while some other African nations are now looking to China for the next wave of vaccine doses.

South Africa is working to launch its vaccination campaign in mid-February after its first delivery of vaccines on Monday: 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. An additional 500,000 are coming later in February.

South Africa will use the doses to inoculate its frontline healthcare workers as the country aims to vaccinate 67% of its 60 million people by the end of the year.

Driven by the more infectious variant, 501Y.V2, now dominant in the country, South Africa had a resurgence of COVID-19 that saw confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths reach nearly double the numbers of the first surge last year.

As mortuaries reached capacity, the country’s largest firm of undertakers, AVBOB, distributed 22 refrigerated shipping containers to its funeral homes.

“If you compare the number of funerals that we are dealing with currently as compared to the same time last year, for example, there’s been a significant increase,” marketing manager Marius de Plessis said.

South Africa has had more than 1.4 million confirmed cases, including 44,399 deaths, representing more than 40% of all cases reported across the African continent of 1.3 billion people.

As the numbers of cases and deaths have begun to drop, South Africa has now eased several restrictions, allowing alcohol sales to resume, reducing the nighttime curfew and allowing public parks and beaches to reopen.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said more vaccine doses will arrive in the coming months from the global COVAX facility, the African Union's vaccine acquisition...