Africa has little chance of overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic unless 70 per cent of its population is vaccinated by end-2022, yet “extreme vaccine discrimination” is leaving the continent behind, a report said.

The discovery of the Omicron variant in southern Africa has heightened claims that low inoculation rates can encourage viral mutations, which can then spread to countries where rates are much higher.

Yet only five of Africa's 54 countries are on track to reach a World Health Organisation target of fully vaccinating 40pc of the population by end-2021, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said in a report on Covid-19 in Africa.

One in 15 Africans has been fully vaccinated, against nearly 70pc in the G7 group of richer nations, according to data from the foundation.