BY ADDISALEM MULAT
When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred all over the world, people of all kinds were surrounded by fear. It was unfortunate that the pandemic embarked on claiming the lives of millions of people all over the world at the stroke of a pen.
In the same manner, the number of deaths and affected people across the globe got underway getting bigger and bigger once in a great while. It is no hyperbole to say, the pandemic has been taking a big toll and going awry. Among other things, all and sundry were at fever pitch.
Against the aforesaid background, people residing in the length and breadth of the world kicked off suffering from the socio-economic crisis. As the whole thing turned upside down at lightning speed, the entire world jumpstarted walking a tight rope.
The news of the pandemic kept on spreading worldwide like wildfire leaving many out of works and moving their respective countries into uncharted territory. Everyone without exception was on the line seeing that well-to-do nations set in motion throwing Africa under the bus.
Regardless of the fact efforts have been made to flatten the curve in the shortest time possible, the wished-for target has not been achieved.
Heartbreakingly, the pandemic was spoiling the apple of the cart by turning the lives of everyone under the world skies into a living hell. As most countries in Africa were cross swords with defiance of capacity, possessions, tenacity, and things of that sort, the entire issue turned out to be a bitter pill to swallow.
In a similar vein, as due attention was not given to African countries, the World Health Origination (WHO) and other pertinent bodies were drawing sharp condemnation betweenwhiles. Instead of pulling out all the stops to get to the bottom of the problem, they were intimidating Africa to prepare for the worst. However, slowly but surely, China embarked on giving out personal protective equipment for the COVID-19 pandemic for Africa.
Once the WHO Chief director-general Tedros Adhanom concerning Africa said, “Africa should prepare itself for the worst as the coronavirus begins to spread locally. I think Africa should wake up. My continent should wake up.”
“The best advice for Africa is to get itself ready for the worst and make itself ready today. Don’t take for granted your community won’t be affected. Prepare as if it will be. Don’t assume you won’t be infected. Prepare as if you will be.
Even though Africa was between the hammer and the anvil, most countries in the world failed to stand by the side of Africans as anticipated. As some of them could not feel the pain of Africans, they ended up turning their back and throwing cold water on their efforts.
More serious still, coronavirus and its impact on Africans have been on the rise and backing the continent into a corner. It
goes without saying that unless maximum effort put into effect rescuing Africa from the pandemic will not be as easy as falling off a log, and low-hanging fruit.
Quite the reverse, rich countries have received the COVID-19 vaccine from various centers for the love of thwarting their nations from the pandemic while Africans are building a castle in the air. Unfortunately, the fate of Africans is hanging in the balance given that their future is in the hands of God. If concerned bodies fail to solve the problem in New York minute, the pandemic will keep on coming with a price.
As per Aljazeera, Africa’s top public health official said “it will be extremely terrible
to see” rich countries receiving COVID-19 vaccines while African countries go devoid of it, for the most part as a new surge in cases embarks on the continent of 1.3 billion people. As mass vaccinations set in motion in Britain, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong warned that Africa might not see vaccines until after the second quarter of 2021.
He went on to say it is a moral issue to urge the United Nations to summon a special session to discuss the ethical and fair distributions of vaccines to avoid “this North-South disbelief in connection with vaccines.”
Sad as it may sound, rich countries are not attaching much importance to Africa thinking that they secure nothing out of the continent, and give priority to highly developed countries in a bid to fatten vaccine companies’ pockets.
To the surprise of everyone, at the time that Africans were severely hit by HIV/AIDS, Africa could not get life-saving treatment for six solid years. In the light of the foregoing, millions of people walked away from life in consequence of the carelessness of rich countries that were running only for their gain.
We should be very careful not to repeat the same mistake in the continent of Africa. As much as they can rich countries should stand by the side of the poor ones seeing that good deeds pay off.
Regarding the issue, UNAIDS Executive Director said, “We must have a Peoples Vaccine, not a profit vaccine. Unless urgent action is taken by governments and the pharmaceutical industry to make sure enough doses are produced, COVID will continue to lay existing inequalities bare. Now is time for pharmaceutical companies and governments to step up and ensure that a COVID-19 vaccine is available to everyone, everywhere, free at the point of use,”
“Our best chance of staying safe from COVID-19 is to have vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments that are available for all. No
one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is safe. The response to COVID-19 is reinforcing existing inequalities within and between countries and the global economy will continue to suffer so long as much of the world does not have access to a vaccine.”
As turning a blind eye will not help attain the sought-after goal, all human beings regardless of age, sexual category, race, and things of that type should get vaccinated. For the sake of truth, vaccine nationalism does not help achieve the desired goal at the earliest possible juncture and get rid of the pandemic from every corner of the world.
Director-general of WHO said hoarding by prosperous countries, backing deficits, guidelines, and cold chain supplies have decelerated the procedure of rolling out the vaccines. The world is on the edge of a disastrous ethical disaster and the charge will be remunerated with lives and livelihoods in the poorest nations.
In an article published in Foreign Policy Dr. Tedros said that the international collaboration among scientists was critical to vaccine development, but now weak cooperation between nations is a major barrier to achieving worldwide vaccination at the scale needed to end the pandemic. Vaccine equity isn’t just a slogan; it protects people everywhere, protects the existing shots from new vaccine-resistant variants, and strengthens the international community’s ability to stop COVID-19.
At present, rich countries with just 16 percent of the world’s population have bought up 60 percent of the world’s vaccine supply. Many of these countries aim to vaccinate 70 percent of their adult population by midyear in pursuit of herd immunity.
But COVAX—the multilateral mechanism created by the World Health Organization together with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the vaccine alliance, to ensure that vaccines reach all people everywhere—is struggling to purchase enough doses to cover just 20 percent of the population of lower-income countries by the end of 2021.
The Ethiopian Herald February 5/2013
