The number of COVID-19 infections in Africa neared the 8.5 million marks, on Sunday even as countries on the continent continue their efforts to contain the virus.

Figures published by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday afternoon, showed that the continent had reported 8.49million confirmed cases with nearly 220,000 fatalities.

South Africa remains to be the hardest-hit country by the pandemic on the continent, having recorded 2.9million cases with over 89,000 deaths.

The country accounts for 34.39 per cent of the continent’s caseload and 40.85 per cent of its fatalities.

African countries have embarked on vaccination drives in efforts to contain further spread of the virus.

The continent’s vaccinations however lag behind other regions, with the WHO last week announcing that only five African countries are projected to hit the end year target of inoculating at least 40 per cent of their people against COVID-19.

Data from the WHO shows that Africa has fully vaccinated 77 million people, just 6 per cent of its population.