SADC’s silence on access to Covid-19 vaccines is too loud 11 Mar 2021 All people living in Southern Africa need equitable vaccine access. Time is short and our people are dying, so the regional body should act fast. (Photo by Luke Dray/Getty Images) Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic a year ago, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), comprising 16 countries in the sub-region, has taken a reasonably active role in providing information and guidance to states on preventing the rapid spread of the deadly virus. However, the regional bloc has been almost completely silent on states’ human rights obligations during the pandemic, particularly in relation to access to the Covid-19 vaccine. So far its only significant statement on vaccines has come from SADC’s current chair, President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique. On 29 January, he urged the bloc’s ministers of health to establish a strong regional strategy of pooling resources together to urgently acquire the vaccine to be distributed among the region’s inhabitants, setting priorities in accordance with the level of risk. However, he made no reference at all to human rights or the legal obligations mandating them to do this.