the Covax device called into question in Switzerland, Nigeria and South Africa

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Covax, the international system which provides Covid-19 vaccines to poor countries, calls for financial assistance. It needs to raise 5.2 billion dollars in the next three months to ensure supplies until the end of the year. More than a billion doses (75 million by France) have been delivered to 144 countries, i.e. half the target initially set for 2021. This is not the only criticism of which the mechanism is the subject through the world. We are going to Switzerland, Nigeria and South Africa.

In Switzerland, ordering problems from the start

To understand the disappointments of Covax, you have to go to Switzerland from where he piloted. The structure was created very early, in 2020, at a time when it was still thought that the first vaccines would not arrive before, at least, the summer of 2021. At the time, it was mainly a question of collecting money. money to be able to buy the doses when they become available. Except that the vaccines arrived faster than expected. Rich countries have multiplied orders with manufacturers, toasting politeness to Covax. The sharing system has also long relied on the only Astrazeneca vaccine produced in India. A choice that turned out to be catastrophic, since India banned vaccine exports for months because of the outbreak of Covid-19 cases on its soil. Covax therefore found itself stuck in the water. While developed countries were ordering RNA vaccines on order.

That’s not Covax’s only flaw. Some also regret that the device is so little transparent, especially on the purchase price. Recipient countries also do not always know what type of vaccines they receive. Which is a problem when you have to store them. Covax was actually born out of urgency, and it shows. This does not mean that the mechanism is not useful. Its promoters estimate that it could save more than 1.2 million lives in 2022.

Nigeria no longer wants expired doses

Are developing countries serving as a dumping ground for Covid-19 vaccines the West doesn’t want? This is the question posed by the Nigerian authorities in December, forced to destroy more than a million expired doses of AstraZeneca. These had been delivered as part of the Covax scheme, when they expired a few weeks later.

How to explain such a mess when we know that only about 10 million people are vaccinated in Nigeria out of the 200 million inhabitants of the most populous country in Africa? In October 2021, Nigeria received two and a half million doses of AstraZeneca with a very short expiry date of four to six weeks after delivery. Despite several massive vaccination campaigns, particularly in places of worship, only 1.5 million doses could be used before expiry. The health authorities were therefore forced to destroy the rest. In December, we saw images of these mountains of vaccine boxes buried by bulldozers.

These doses were all the more difficult to sell as the logistics were already a challenge before the pandemic. Nigeria is a country ravaged by insecurity, roads are difficult to pass, electricity is lacking. The population is also wary of vaccination. But offering vaccines that the West does not want or that will expire before they reach local clinics is not likely to increase the confidence of Nigerians. On Tuesday January 18, Nigeria received more than three million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as part of a US donation, this time with an expiry date of six months, which should facilitate their distribution, according to authorities.

South Africa prefers 100% African vaccines

South Africa has taken a big step towards vaccine independence. A new vaccine production plant has just been launched in Cape Town. It could be operational this year to produce 100% African anti-Covid-19 vaccines, a first on the continent. South Africa has managed to attract investment from a native son, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong. This entrepreneur made his fortune in the United States in biotechnology. Today he wants to transfer his technologies to the African continent, starting with South Africa, which is delighted with it.

This is the third vaccine production plant to open in South Africa since the start of the pandemic. But it is the first that will fully design the vaccine from start to finish. The others are assembly plants. Objective: one billion doses per year by 2025. President Ramaphosa was present at the launch of the site to savor what he describes as”Important step in Africa’s march towards health, progress and prosperity”.

Cyril Ramaphosa is the spokesperson for the continent in denouncing vaccine inequality. He says in essence: stop giving us doses, we want to be able to produce them. His efforts paid off and he congratulated himself on Wednesday, January 19: “Today we are demonstrating our progress towards a self-sufficient continent and we should be proud of what we have achieved. The shackles of colonialism are being broken little by little.”

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the investor who launched this vaccine production plant in South Africa, sees much bigger still. He wants to produce second-generation vaccines against Covid-19, which are supposed to be more effective against the virus. The entrepreneur also wants to produce vaccines against HIV, tuberculosis, cancer or yellow fever. He aims to build an industry in Africa, for Africa, before exporting to the world. Patrick Soon-Shiong plans to open factories in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. “We are not jealous”, reacted with a touch of humor the South African president.


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