Why Has Africa Back Tracked Inoculation For COVID19?

African countries are reluctant to sign in the Pfizer Indemnity clause that had been readily offered to the company by the UK government some time back.  The non-damage clause protects the interests of the company but has put the African inoculation drive into a freeze mode.

Under the Human Medicines Regulations of 2012, a new regulation prevents any kind of civil liability against Pfizer or Moderna who have come out with the Covid-19 vaccine. A similar decision was taken by the American government too in order to support the widespread use of vaccine developed by these pharma companies.

With African countries weary of accepting the mandatory clause, there is already delay in the control of the disease. Africa is also one of those continents where the Corona virus has developed a unique strain and is said to be mutating quickly.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are said to be effective on the mutants. But there are mixed experiences in Africa. For one, the Astra Zeneca vaccine was not effective on the variant discovered in Africa in 2020. It left many with blood clots and subsequent death.

READMORE: Somalia; Army officials opposed the extension issued statements

As of now, only 20 million citizens have been inoculated out of a large population of 1.3 billion people. Of those inoculated, half of them reside in Morocco.

The landlocked country of Burkina Faso is yet to sign up the indemnity agreement, while some other countries are refusing to be a part of the Covax programme also. These include Eritrea, Burundi and Tanzania. Madagascar has agreed recently to secure vaccines under the UN led Covax scheme. Chad has a different approach where it does not trust the Astra Zeneca shots provided under the Covax scheme and would prefer to wait for Pfizer ones to be available.

There are other interesting situations to be seen. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo had to cede 1.3 million of the 1.7 million vaccine doses it received because it didn’t have the capability to distribute them. Burkina Faso would have received a portion of 1 million AstraZeneca vaccines sold by South Africa to the African Union but wasn’t ready to receive them. It’s a situation of total fear over illiteracy and misinformation which is guiding critical decision making that is time bound.  The whole continent seems to be sitting on a clicking time-bomb.

guest

Recent Posts

Mauritius Reopens Social MediaAccess in Response to PublicPressure

Mauritius on Saturday overruled its decision to prohibit social media until the election onNovember 10th which was caused by a…

November 5, 2024

UAE Crown Prince Arrives in Ethiopia for WorldWithout Hunger Conference

The UAE’s Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed AlNahyan was in Addis Ababa…

November 5, 2024

Zimbabwe’s rich (Mbingas) linked to state looting

Gilbert Machokoto, a former teacher, said that setting up a business in the late 1980s, shortlyafter Zimbabwe's independence, was ‘like…

November 4, 2024

Historic Shift in Botswana as PresidentConcedes to Opposition Victory

Following elections in which the party that had ruled the diamond-rich nation for almost 60years suffered a historic setback. Botswana's…

November 4, 2024

Lightning Strike at Uganda Refugee CampClaims 14 Lives, Including Children

A lightning strike at a refugee camp in Uganda kills 14 people including children with 34 othershospitalized. The incident happened…

November 4, 2024

From television hopeful to red carpet royalty: Kuhle Adams’ journey frompresenter to South Africa’s biggest awards

From TV hopeful to red carpet royalty, Kuhle Adams' journey is a remarkable story of talentand perseverance. Beginning as an…

November 3, 2024

This website uses cookies.