Pretoria, August 17 (RHC)-- Outrage is growing after Johnson & Johnson shipped at least 32 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine produced in South Africa to the European Union — with plans to ship 10 million more — even as the African continent faces its deadliest wave of the pandemic.
A clause in South Africa’s contract with Johnson & Johnson requires South Africa to waive its right to impose export restrictions on domestically produced vaccines.
Just a small fraction of Africans have been vaccinated against COVID-19; by comparison, nearly two-thirds of Germany’s population has received at least one dose.
The People’s Vaccine Alliance said in response: “This is further proof that the world cannot trust a handful of pharmaceutical companies to fairly allocate vaccines across the world.”