Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

African health official blasts 'terrible' vaccine inequality

Africa’s top public health official says “it will be extremely terrible to see” rich countries receiving COVID-19 vaccines while African countries go without, especially as a second surge in cases begins on the continent of 1.3 billion people

Via AP news wire
Thursday 10 December 2020 04:54 EST
Virus Outbreak South Africa
Virus Outbreak South Africa (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

“It will be extremely terrible to see” rich countries receiving COVID-19 vaccines while African countries go without, especially as a new surge in cases begins on the continent of 1.3 billion people, Africa’s top public health official said Thursday.

As the world watches mass vaccinations begin Britain, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong has warned that Africa might not see vaccines until after the second quarter of 2021.

Nkengasong called it a “moral issue” and urged the United Nations to summon a special session to discuss the ethical, fair distribution of vaccines to avoid “this North-South distrust in respect to vaccines, which is a common good.”

COVID-19 will not be defeated in the West alone, he said, and he took aim at “today’s dialogue of suspicion” as rich countries buy vaccines “in excess of their needs while we in Africa are still struggling with the COVAX facility,” the multinational initiative designed to deliver at least some vaccines to less developed countries.

Africa won’t receive nearly enough vaccines from COVAX to reach the goal of vaccinating 60% of the population to achieve herd immunity, Nkengasong said, and he appealed to countries with excess doses to give them to COVAX or countries in need.

“We need to show global cooperation, global solidarity,” he said, “The time to translate those powerful words into action is now.”

Africa's 54 countries now have a total of more than 2.3 million confirmed infections.

“Clearly the second wave is here, no doubt,” Nkengasong said.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in