Experts Say J&J-Merck Deal—Though Welcome Step—Does Not Get to Heart of the Matter on Vaccine Apartheid pressenza.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressenza.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It was pouring with rain when Cyril Ramaphosa and a clot of politicians stood on the airport tarmac in late January to welcome the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines.
That soggy image got economist Professor Imraan Valodia wondering just how South Africa got to the point of having to import vaccines in the first place. What happened to its vaccine production capability?
His questions led to bigger questions: what’s happened to South Africa’s inclusive economic growth plan? What happened to the promise of a better life for all?
The answers, the dean in the Wits Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management says, include the tale of South Africa’s vaccine institute, Biovac, formed 17 years ago according to public-private partnership principles. Until June 2020, it was split into 52.5% private consortium and 47.5% government.
Washington, March 2
Coming out in support of India and South Africa, hundreds of American civil society organisations and three top lawmakers have urged US President Joe Biden not to block the waiver
Coming out in support of India and South Africa, hundreds of American civil society organisations and three top lawmakers have urged US President Joe Biden to not block the waiver to COVID-19 vaccines at the WTO, asserting that it will boost the treatment of coronavirus patients worldwide.
The intellectual property plan was filed by India and South Africa on 2 October and garnered support from a host of developing countries which - correctly - anticipated being left behind in the vaccination race.