COVID-19: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warns of 'vaccine apartheid'

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on May 10 said that if rich countries continue to hog COVID-19 shots while millions in poor countries died waiting for them it would amount to “vaccine apartheid”. According to Bloomberg, in his weekly letter, Ramaphosa said that vaccines need to be viewed as a global public good. He added that the intellectual property, knowledge, technology and data related to COVID-19 vaccines should also be available to all. 

“A situation in which the populations of advanced, rich countries are safely inoculated while millions in poorer countries die in the queue would be tantamount to vaccine apartheid,” Ramaphosa said. He added that it will also set a “devastating precedent” in the quest to realise a more egalitarian world and the ability to handle a future pandemic.

Ramaphosa’s letter comes after South Africa and India submitted proposals on the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights that would allow for a temporary waiver of certain aspects of TRIPS. This would mean wider access to the technologies needed to produce vaccines and medicines. US President Joe Biden has backed the proposal, however, it may still take months to reach a deal. 

Vaccines should be ‘global public good’

In his weekly letter, Ramaphosa called on South Africans to support the waiver and said that vaccines should be a “global public good”. He even added that it is about affirming commitment to the advancement of equality and human rights, and not just in his own country but around the globe. He even noted that South Africa was one of only five countries on the African continent able to manufacture vaccines and that there was a need for new capacity to be built.

It is worth noting that Africa is the worst hit in terms of infections and fatalities. South Africa’s second wave was driven by its own variant that quickly dominated infections countrywide. So far, COVID-19 has killed 54,687 people in South Africa, along with over 1.59 million confirmed cases, according to John Hopkins University. The country has ordered tens of millions of vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer as it looks to ramp up its slow mass vaccination campaign. 

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