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Roselyne Sachiti in OKADA, Edo State, Nigeria
Zimbabwean academic and former Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara, has hailed Zimbabwe’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the Government was wise in procuring the Sinopharm, Sinovac and Sputnik V vaccines at a time some African countries were shunning these, insisting only on vaccines from the West.
In an interview with The Herald on the sidelines of a special webinar on “Vaccine Research and Development in Africa: Perspectives from the Academics”, Prof Mutambara hailed Government for being strategic in its approach.
“Government did not wait for WHO (World Health Organisation). They went and did a bilateral deal with China which brought in Sinopharm and Sinovac in Zimbabwe, and were able to address the pandemic in the country.
“To show that Zimbabwe was wise, South African white executives are hiring jets into Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to get vaccinated with Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.
“Yet South Africa is the most industrialised country on the continent but now they are surviving on vaccination from little Zimbabwe because of the wisdom and strategic decision by Government to bypass WHO and do a bilateral with China, and now Sputnik V from Russia,” he said.
Prof Mutambara said African countries should no longer depend on the global north, Europe and America, for vaccine production. “WHO is controlled by Europe and America. Sputnik is better than Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson, yet it has not yet received emergency use listing by WHO,” he pointed out.
Going forward, he added, Africa should have its own mechanisms and systems of vaccine certification through the African Union but SADC, Economic Community of West African States and other regional bodies could also do this.
Online Reporter