Malawi : Time To End Global Covid19 Vaccine inequalities,’ says Chakwera

By Joseph Dumbula

Malawian President who is also the Chairperson of regional bloc SADC Lazarus Chakwera has criticized developed nations of clinging to ownership and control of Covid19 vaccines.

The criticism, third in the line for Chakwera comes amid concerns that African nations are lagging behind in terms of stock of the vaccines as well as in the number of people that are vaccinated.

According to Chakwera this is due to among other things inequalities and disparities in the distribution and production of COVID-19 vaccine.

‘’I want to agree with South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa that there is a vaccine apartheid on Covid-19 jabs and that we must demand equal access for poor countries.  We are questioning the wisdom of having millions of vaccines doses in rich countries while the rest of the world is dying from Covid-19.’’ He told France24 in an interview from the United Arab Emirates.

According to the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity (established by UNDP, WHO and Oxford University) as of September 15, just 3.07 per cent of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 60.18 per cent in high-income countries.

Africa and its 1.3 billion people remain the least-vaccinated region of the world against COVID-19, with just over 5 per cent fully vaccinated.