Things could have been much worse. SARS-CoV-2 is not as lethal as other epidemic viruses, such as HIV or Ebola. Indeed, the fact that the virus is relatively benign for the majority of people is why it has spread so successfully. Although many have suffered and died, the pandemic is likely to affect many more in terms of mental health or complications due to delayed medical care, while a great amount of suffering will also probably be caused by the subsequent economic chaos. These are the issues that need addressing in future responses.

Kelly Chibale, University of Cape Town The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced the first six African countries that will receive technology to produce messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. This comes off the back of the news that a South African consortium – part of the WHO’s technology transfer hub set up in 2021– had successfully replicated Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Ina Skosana

The world has not yet won the war against malaria. While the total number of cases has declined from about 81.1 cases per 1,000 population to 59 per 1,000 since 2000, there were still an estimated 240 million cases and 600,000 deaths in 2020 globally.