In South Africa, organizations fighting for fair access to vaccines against revelations are rising in a New York Times article describing how at least 32 million doses of Johnson & Johnson packaged on site at the local Aspen plant have been exported to Europe.
as reported from Johannesburg, Claire Bargelès
Johnson & Johnson says it has done its best to prioritize South Africa. But according toNew York Times article, the country would have been forced to sign a clause that does not allow it to take advantage of the doses produced in its territory.
These doses were exported especially while South Africa was fighting a third wave, making the decision unacceptable to Fatima Hassan, founder of the Health Justice Initiative, which fights for health justice: “It happened. In recent months, when South Africa was in great need of supplies, especially in doses of Johnson & Johnson. Thanks to the storage conditions, they could have been used to vaccinate the countryside on a large scale. ”
A “colonial approach” While less than 2% of the African population is vaccinated, it is also disappointing for the rest of the continent, according to Moses Mulumba, head of Uganda’s Center for Health, Human Rights and Human Rights. Development (CEHURD): “This colonial approach of using African soil to get other continents out of the crisis is not acceptable. And we always get to know about cooperation between countries in the south, but it is useless if we send the vaccines elsewhere. “
►Read also: Report – Covid -19 in South Africa: an association that vaccinates at home
And for Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, everyone will lose out if inequality in access remains: “By protecting only part of the world, we are shooting ourselves in the foot, because it is only a victory in the short term. This situation of vaccine apartheid unnecessarily prolongs the crisis, and it sows the seeds of future social unrest. “
Fatima Hassan’s organization says it is ready to go to court if it is denied access to these contracts within the next few days.
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Confidentiality has no place in a pandemic:
-In June, HJI requested that all contracts with vaccine manufacturers be published. -The government has since told us that it “notified the manufacturers and is awaiting their contribution”. # Vaccine transparency
Here we explain more: pic.twitter.com/vjEDlc915z
– Health Justice Initiative – hji (@HealthJusticeIn) August 14, 2021
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