G7 foreign ministers should push for the declaration of a global emergency at their meeting in London today to speed up coronavirus vaccine distribution, the joint head of Africa's vaccine programme has said.

"This vaccine lag is putting millions of lives at risk," Dr Ayoade Alakija told the BBC's Today programme.

She called for immediate action saying that patent waivers should be put in place and production capacity boosted.

She added that the situation in India is an indication of what could happen on the African continent.

"The fires have already been lit... we must prepare... with diagnostics, therapeutics, we need to have oxygen," she said.

"We are really in a very precarious position."