All countries in the world should have access to the much-touted, recently announced Covid-19 vaccines once they are available for use in clinics, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.
The president made the virtual plea to fellow G20 leaders who zoomed in to the two-day annual summit being facilitated by Saudi Arabia this weekend.
According to Ramaphosa, whose country is the hardest hit with the pandemic in Africa, the vaccine providers need to include all countries to ensure a global recovery from the disease.
“Another immediate task for the G20 is to ensure that there is equitable and affordable access for all countries to the Covid-19 vaccine once it is developed,” he said.
He added: “I would therefore like to call upon the G20 countries to assist with the funding shortfalls for the access to Covid-19 tools accelerator to ensure that this platform is able to deliver on its mandate.”
South Africa has seen the virus, which broke out in the country in March 2020, take the lives of over 20,000 people from over two million Covid-19 cases in the country.
With reports that three companies have manufactured Covid-19 vaccines whose efficacy is 95%, there is fear that Western countries would provide the medical relief to their own people first – before providing the jabs to African and other so-called Third World states.
NM/as/APA