| South Africa, which has the continent's best health system and worst confirmed coronavirus outbreak by orders of magnitude, has vaccinated fewer than 500,000 health-care workers—lagging behind the likes of Zimbabwe, Angola and Senegal. More than 1.6 million Covid-19 cases have been detected in the country so far, and officially over 55,000 of those diagnosed with the disease have died. Contractual wrangling with drug companies and the emergence of a new variant that appeared resistant to a shot developed by AstraZeneca are among the reasons cited by the authorities for the absence of a comprehensive inoculation campaign. Opposition parties and civil rights groups say government tardiness and ineptitude have played an even bigger role.  South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photographer: RODGER BOSCH/AFP Now, President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration finally seems to be getting its act together. Contracts have been signed with Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer to supply enough shots to cover about two-thirds of the nation's 60 million people, with those over age 60 set to start getting them this week. An electronic registration system has been set up, more than 3,000 vaccination centers have been identified, and health workers have received the requisite training. The urgency of the vaccine rollout can't be understated. New cases, which have been simmering along since late February, have risen sharply over recent weeks. While the government says the threshold for a third wave of infections has yet to be breached, the signs are worrying, and it's on high alert. The vaccines look set to be snapped up when they do become available. A survey published last week by a group of academics showed 71% of more than 5,000 people canvassed said they wanted the shots.—Mike Cohen | 
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