John Nkengasong, Africa’s Advocate for Covid Vaccine Equity

In December 2019, Nkengasong and his staff weren’t focused on the new coronavirus that had emerged in Wuhan, China. They were waging a battle closer to home: an Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo that would go on to kill almost 2,300 people. But Nkengasong, who’s worked in public health for 30 years, understood the looming danger. Leaders heeded his quick call to limit travel across borders and institute mask mandates, which saved lives and blunted Covid’s initial impact.

As vaccines became available this year, Nkengasong worked with the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, the African Export-Import Bank, and dozens of nations to purchase shipments; in August the first of 220 million shots manufactured by Johnson & Johnson began arriving in countries including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria.