Dear President Ramaphosa, As a bioethicist working with colleagues on issues of medical rights, I have been following the details about the acquisition and planned roll-out of vaccines closely, formulating questions which I hope your government will answer and requesting your assurances about the observation of proper procedures during the roll-out. The issues I raise can be summarised as follows: 1. Given that, during the 20th century, South Africa was known for its expertise in vaccine research and production – as I detail below – why does our country now need to go with begging bowl in hand to the global north to acquire much-needed vaccines? We want your assurance that we are well on the path to returning to our past self-sufficiency, integral to which is the cessation of the export of our human tissue for the benefit of the global north, a process known as bio-colonialism.