Ramaphosa Warns ‘Davos Agenda,’ Rich Countries’ ‘Vaccine Nationalism’ Endangers All Countries

Jan. 26 , 2021 (EIRNS)—Making what was called a “Special Address” to the Jan. 25-29 “Davos Agenda” conference of the World Economic Forum yesterday, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, who will also chair the African Union until February, warned rich nations who have bought and hoarded more COVID-19 vaccines than they need, that they risk prolonging the pandemic.

Stressing the need for global cooperation in tackling challenges from COVID-19 Ramaphosa said, “We are all not safe if some countries are vaccinating their people and other countries are not vaccinating,” he said.

Ramaphosa said a COVID-19 African vaccine-acquisition task team (COVAX) has secured a provisional 270 million doses for the continent directly through vaccine manufacturers. This was in addition to the 600 million doses expected from the COVAX initiative. Last week, World Health Organization Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus blasted the rich countries’ immoral hoarding, inoculating not only those agreed must receive the vaccine first, the elderly, at risk, and frontline workers, but also those who are younger, while denying vaccine to countries that have not yet inoculated those who need it most urgently.

“Through its participation in these continental and global initiatives, S.A. continues to promote the need for universal, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines,” said President Ramaphosa. “We all must act together in combatting coronavirus, because it affects all of us equally, and therefore our remedies—our actions to combat it—must also be equal,” South Africa’s Business Day quoted him.