It seems science will succeed, but will politics hinder equitable access to the forthcoming Covid-19 vaccine? Mark Heywood chatted to Professors Shabir Madhi and Helen Rees about South Africa’s first clinical trial for such a vaccine.
Researchers are confident that they will soon crack the code for a coronavirus vaccine, but the major global health concern is whether politics and wealth will be a barrier to universal and equal access to this critical vaccine.
If high-income nations monopolise vaccine production, Madhi said, it may cause a delay in the vaccine’s introduction to lower-income countries due to a lack of information on the efficacy of the vaccine in those regions.There’s a number of reasons that can influence why vaccines work differentially between different settings. So, if we don’t generate evidence right now, we will never know just how well this vaccine will or will not work in our local context.
“This cannot be all for some and none for others. This has to be an equitable distribution of vaccines,” said Rees. Rees, who also sits on the ministerial advisory committee on Covid-19 said although only a few companies with capabilities for aspects of vaccine production exist in South Africa, the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation was looking to partner with them.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
SA COVID-19 death toll climbs to 2,340There has been a further 48 COVID-19 related deaths: 8 from Eastern Cape and 40 from Western Cape.
Read more »
EU drugs agency recommends use of remdesivir to treat Covid-19At least two major US studies have shown that the anti-viral drug can reduce the duration of hospital stays for patients.
Read more »
New study confirms 'cough, fever and fatigue' are the most common Covid-19 symptomsResearchers add that it's likely that a large proportion of people who had the virus did not display symptoms.
Read more »
Pietermaritzburg court closed after staff test positive for Covid-19The Pietermaritzburg magistrate's court has been temporarily closed after two staff members tested positive for Covid-19.
Read more »