South African President Cyril Ramaphosa once again lashed out at the European Union’s handling of COVID-19, accusing them of “vaccine apartheid” and arguing that the new travel ban on travelers from certain African countries is against science logic.
At a meeting in Dakar, Senegal, on Monday (December 6), Ramaphosa condemned the new restrictions imposed by the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States following the discovery of the Omicron variant, which was originally discovered by South African scientists of.
“You ask yourself where the science is. They always tell us to base your decisions on science, but when they become more scientific, they are not,” he said.
The South African president also accused Western countries of “hoarding vaccines.”
“The greed they showed was disappointing, especially when they said they were our partners. Because our lives in Africa are as important as our lives in Europe, North America and other places,” he added.
At the same time, Senegalese President McKay Sal warned that Western countries’ response has increased the risk of countries withholding future information about COVID-19 variants, fearing similar effects.
The President of the European Council Charles Michel tried to downplay Ramaphosa’s remarks, calling them a “dramatic statement.”
However, the EU is keenly aware of its vulnerability to allegations of vaccine nationalism, and the anger of African leaders over the implementation of new travel restrictions may undermine the delayed plan for a “strategic partnership” between the two groups. At the EU-African Union summit early next year.
On Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Lein once again described the EU as “the world’s largest donor of COVID-19 vaccines” and has donated more than 350 million doses of vaccines, most of which are through the International Vaccine Coordination Agency Donated by COVAX.
Von der Lein also pledged to “increase support for Africa, where vaccination rates are lower than in other parts of the world.”
“Our goal is to ensure that 70% of the world’s population is vaccinated by the middle of next year,” she said.
So far, of the 1.67 billion pledged vaccine donations, only 256 million (equivalent to 15%) have been delivered, and the recent surge in the spread of COVID-19 in Europe, coupled with the Omicron variant, has made donors nervous about donating vaccines.
Ramaphosa has also been leading a campaign to abandon the intellectual property rights of the COVID vaccine to allow South Africa and other countries to produce their own generic vaccines in order to accelerate the pace of vaccination.
The EU is still one of the main opponents of the temporary IP exemption. Due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, the World Trade Organization meeting originally scheduled to be held last week was postponed indefinitely.
However, in recent weeks, the European Union has supported BioNTech’s plans to establish vaccination production facilities in Senegal and Rwanda as part of its commitment to develop production capacity in Africa.
There has always been a dispute between COVAX and donor countries over the so-called “domestic” dose. These vaccine manufacturers have provided vaccines to wealthy countries but are now stored in national warehouses or cold storage facilities.
Donor countries hope to donate these doses, but COVAX only accepts vaccine donations because they worry that otherwise, the doses may not have a sufficient shelf life.
A recent report from Duke University shows that the oversupply of vaccines in the G7 and EU countries this year is 830 million doses, and the World Health Organization needs 650 million doses by the end of 2021 to reach its goal. The global vaccination rate is 40%.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
