Africa has few options for acquiring vaccines against Covid-19, as the outbreak of the disease worsens in many parts of the continent, the South African presidency said.
Pfizer Inc. i BioNTech SE has offered to supply Africa with 50 million Covid-19 vaccines for health workers between March and the end of this year, the presidency said in a response to Bloomberg on Sunday. Moderna Inc. it has no supplies for Africa AstraZeneca Plc has no shot at the continent in 2021 and has led the African Union to negotiate with the Serum Institute of India Ltd., which prepares the vaccine on behalf of AstraZeneca. The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, is the President of the African Union.
Ramaphosa’s response comes after days of serious criticism in South Africa over the country’s vaccination strategy by health leaders, unions and opposition parties. Although there are four ongoing vaccine trials in the country, South Africa has only organized the purchase of enough shots for 10% of its population of 60 million people through the Covax initiative, designed to ensure equitable access. to vaccines. They are likely to start reaching the second quarter. Some African countries have their own plans for acquiring vaccines. Most don’t.
“We are working hard in South Africa and the mainland to protect our people from the Covid-19,” the presidency said.
South Africa publishes a record number of infections and deaths and neighboring Zimbabwe enters a strict 30-day closure. The South African economy it probably contracted more in nine decades last year, according to official estimates.
In an emailed statement, an AstraZeneca representative said the company “has created several supply chains around the world to provide a broad and equitable supply of the vaccine.” The statement named Covax and the Serum Institute of India as the main channels through which African countries can access vaccines.
“Prohibitive” cost
The cost of Pfizer vaccines is “prohibitive,” the presidency said. A Pfizer representative confirmed talks with the African Union and declined to give further details.
In a subsequent statement, a UK-based Pfizer representative said the company remained “firmly committed to equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines”.
“We have allocated doses for supply to low- and middle-income countries at a non-profit price and we are actively working with governments around the world,” the email said. statement.
Discussions are taking place with Johnson & Johnson, which conducts a trial in South Africa and plans to make 300 million doses a year in a country-owned factory owned by Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. when the shot is approved.
J&J “has not clarified whether Africa will benefit from vaccines manufactured in South Africa,” the presidency said. “We have yet to negotiate the price that is affordable for Africa.”
South Africa is holding direct talks with vaccine suppliers, including J&J, AstraZeneca and Pfizer, on supplies for the country, the presidency said. South Africa’s health product regulator uses the so-called ongoing review, which allows it to evaluate vaccine data as it becomes available during trials to assess J & J’s shot. apply.
Richer nations
African countries would have been in a better position to quickly access the vaccines of AstraZeneca and others if they had been “as strategic” as the richer nations and had initiated talks directly with producers and in parallel with initial efforts to achieve access to Covax, Shabir Madhi, a vaccinologist professor and head of the South African arm of the AstraZeneca trial, told Bloomberg.
“The Covax installation, while noble in its mission of social solidarity for equitable access to vaccines, never broke the legacy of the delay it needs before life-saving vaccines are available for low- and middle-income countries, ”Madhi said .
Although at least 29 countries, from Mexico to Germany, have begun inoculating their populations against the virus, South Africa has not yet concluded any supply agreements with pharmaceutical companies. Kenya, a much poorer country than South Africa, expects to receive vaccines by the end of January or next month, according to the Nairobi Standard newspaper reported Sunday, citing the country’s health secretary. He did not specify which vaccine.
On Saturday, an opinion piece published in local media and signed by senior members of the Progressive Health Forum, which includes heads of medical and academic associations, called on Ramaphosa to fire health department officials for their failure to ensure the supply of vaccines.
For more information on the opinion article, click here
“As a health worker with friends and colleagues at the forefront and knowing the health workers who have hired Covid-19 and died for their work, we are forced to try to speed up access to the vaccine so they can do their work “. said Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council and forum member, in response to inquiries.
South Africa, with more than 1.09 million confirmed Covid-19 infections and 29,175 deaths, is the hardest hit country on the African continent.
– With the assistance of Golnar Motevalli
(Updates with AstraZeneca comments on the sixth paragraph, Pfizer from the seventh.)