John McDermott, the Chief Africa correspondent for The Economist, sheds light on the challenges of COVID-19 vaccination in Africa amid operational hurdles and vaccine hesitancy. He discusses the urgency for African nations to secure vaccine supplies and contrasts their struggles with those faced by developed countries. Additionally, McDermott touches upon the political repression in Russia surrounding Alexei Navalny and the implications of branding his movement as extremist, linking domestic strife to wider geopolitical tensions.