South Africa’s fight against hoarding and profiteering from vaccines

Can South Africa use activism to fight for affordable and accessible Covid-19 vaccines and treatments like it fought for HIV/Aids treatment over a decade ago?

According to two analysts with very opposing views on how this fight can be won, this is exactly what is needed.

Economist Patrick Bond has accused the government of partaking in the very bidding wars that are helping rich countries hoard vaccines, while the multinationals making them profit unduly from the race.

While other African countries are relying on the UN’s Global Covax Facility to vaccinate 20% of their populations, South Africa is “jumping the queue at inflated rates” by buying directly from pharmaceutical companies, he says.

He believes South Africa is in a position to add much needed pressure against vaccine hoarding and profiteering which has seen existing socio-economic inequalities echoed in the unequal global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

Also Read: 40,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines touchdown in SA

“We had this fight 20 years ago and we won. That was in the thick of the HIV/Aids pandemic when activists were fighting for institutions to be able to make generic ARV drugs,” Bond said.

He is one of scores of activists, groups, and countries that have joined the plea for the World Trade Organisation to institute a waiver on certain Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obligations to allow for faster and cheaper global access to vital Covid-19 medicines, including vaccines.

The Council for TRIPS met on 23 February and again last week, when WTO members, including South Africa, continued their discussions on a proposal for the temporary waiver of certain TRIPS obligations in response to Covid-19.

The February meeting was chaired by ambassador for South Africa Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter, who stressed the global community should prioritise putting an end to the Covid-19 pandemic, halt its rapid transmission and reduce the risks posed by virus mutations.

Also Read: Covid-19 vaccine patents need protection, with compromises for developing world

Dr Hugo Tempelman, CEO of the Ndlovu Care Group, however, suggests that foregoing property rights for generic versions of the vaccine to be produced cheaply is not the best or only way to save lives faster.

“Everybody must remember we also successfully challenged the WTO in the early days of the Aids pandemic and activism to make ARVs affordable,” Tempelman said.

“What we can do is to learn from this history and challenge the WTO on the urgency of this pandemic where the price is too high and the supply is not enough. We can get them to help countries to pursue pharmaceutical companies to create higher production at reduced prices.”

Also Read: SA exhausts first batch of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine

South Africa’s vaccine roll-out to healthcare workers was saved by a last minute decision to roll out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on an open trial basis, while the government ironed out its slow-burning plan to purchase directly from other producers, Tempelman said.

This was after more than 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine it purchased were resold, following data that showed its inefficacy against a virulent South African strain of Covid-19.

“We have now vaccinated more than 200,000 people and now that the J&J vaccine has been approved by Sahprah, the upscaling can now begin, I predict,” he said.

Last month, Johnson & Johnston announced a partnership with Aspen Pharmacare that will see 300 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine shipped from Aspen’s Port Elizabeth factory.

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