THE second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is already underway. Like the rest of the world, Africa is pinning its hopes on the anticipated imminent approval of a COVID-19 vaccine that could begin mass production by early 2021. The continent’s urgent need for vaccines emanates from a desperately weak health system. The region remains vulnerable to the potential devastation from unmitigated spread. Africa’s timely access to a vaccine will be critical to its ability to limit phase II viral spread and protect the vulnerable while avoiding further lockdown of economies as the primary means of controlling viral transmission within communities. guest column:Lenias Hwenda Africa as a region needs to urgently articulate a plan for securing a vaccine for its most vulnerable populations, and for safely delivering it to African destinations from manufacturing sites outside the continent without the risk of it getting spoilt by temperature fluctuations. Africa cannot effectively deploy a COVID-19 vaccine and run an effective large-scale vaccination campaign without addressing its cold chain infrastructure gap. This is one of the most urgent infrastructure requirements for Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine deployment preparedness. An adequate cold chain infrastructure to effectively deploy a COVID-19 vaccine Nine of 300 candidate vaccines worldwide are in various stages of phase III clinical studies. Three are leading the race — Oxford-AstraZeneca, BioNTech-Pfizer and NIH-Moderna. Outside the West, China has two biotech companies CanSino Biologics and Sinopharm, both with phase III vaccines. Sinopharm is co-developing one of its two vaccines with the multinational Johnson & Johnson, but this trial has become the second to be suspended due to serious complications affecting one of its participants. The Gamaleya Research Institute of Russia also has a vaccine in phase III trials posited in the race to become the first to reach the market. Whichever vaccine wins the race, its delivery anywhere in the world will face many hurdles including the availability of safety data, acceptance and finance. Each of these vaccines will require adequate cold chain facilities to be effectively deployed in vaccination campaigns. Low-middle-income countries (LMICs) will face the challenge of limited access to vaccine brought on by the limited cold chain infrastructure available for effectively deploying and managing large-scale vaccination campaigns of COVID-19 proportions. In particular, Africa has limited cold storage facilities across its airports. This elevates the risk that the COVID-19 vaccine destined to some African destinations could get spoilt by temperature fluctuations en route. Africa’s successful public health campaign against COVID-19 is not a mystery Following a first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken more than one million lives worldwide, the second wave is already underway in Europe and elsewhere. Africa is widely recognised for its successful COVID-19 phase I response. According to the WHO, Africa remains one of the least affected