The Mastercard Foundation’s Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative is committing to a $1.3 billion partnership with the Africa Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC) to address the pressing needs of COVID-19 on the continent of Africa. As many countries in the West start to reach over 50 percent of their populations receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, Africa lags. In fact, the continent reached an all-time high of 43,000 daily new infections in late July and only 3.7% of the population have received at least one COVID vaccine dose. The large disparity in vaccination rates is alarming, as Africa remains extremely vulnerable to the devastating effects of the virus.