Abstract:
Understanding the genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is essential in developing effective public health policy and control programmes. The article by Tapfumanei Mashe and colleagues published in The Lancet Global Health is a valuable contribution to the scientific literature to inform the COVID-19 response in southern Africa. The current problems in the COVID-19 response in many African countries are largely due to a scarcity of scientific evidence to guide response strategies, thus, this Article is not only relevant but timely and complements the efforts from other African countries to understand the evolution of the virus in this part of the world. Earlier, when Africa had only reported a few cases, experts had warned that African countries were ill prepared to confront the COVID-19 pandemic. It is clear that although case numbers have been lower than in other world regions, the pandemic has certainly created public health and socioeconomic challenges, in part, due to insufficient evidence to support public health policies. Moreover, if the pandemic is not controlled in Africa, vaccination efforts could be profoundly affected with the potential emergence of vaccine escape variants in the region.
