Buhari advocates equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines at Paris conference

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday charged world leaders and global health institutions on the equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines.

He warned that sidelining less privileged countries in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines would undermine the efforts to safe mankind from the virus that had killed 5.07 million people and infected 251 million others across the world.

The President, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, made the call in a keynote address at the Paris Peace Forum in France.

He, however, welcomed the pledges by industrialized countries to share the vaccines.

Buhari said: “Resolving supply-chain constraints would require better coordination within the manufacturing process; and between manufacturers and end-users.

“There is a clear need for the expansion of vaccine production capacity in Africa. In this regard, African countries already have a roadmap: the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA) developed in 2007 by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) on the basis of an African Union Summit decision taken in 2005.

“Licensing agreements should be reached with pharmaceutical companies for the transfer of intellectual property and technology to support the production of vaccines in Africa.

“If global vaccination is the only way to end the COVID-19 pandemic, then all stakeholders must act in a coordinated manner to plug the vaccine supply gap in Africa.

“The state of vaccine delivery across the world leaves much to be desired has got to a stage where some countries are giving booster third doses for their citizens when millions across the world, especially in the developing world, are yet to receive a single dose.

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“Let us compare vaccination rates to give an idea of the dimension of the problem. According to recent data released as of November 4, 2021. 91.3 doses of vaccine had been given for every 100 persons across the world. On the same date, however, only 14.7 doses of vaccine per 100 persons had been administered in Africa – a clear case of lopsidedness.

“According to Bloomberg, countries with the highest incomes are getting vaccinated 10 times faster than those with the lowest income.

“As of 5th November 2021, Africa had fully vaccinated 77 million persons, amounting to just 6 percent of the continent’s population. By comparison, 60 percent of the European Union population had been fully vaccinated by September 2021.

“This massive gap between vaccine requirements in Africa and vaccine availability is undermining the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent. Even if Africa were to receive the 600 million doses of vaccine expected to be delivered to the continent by the end of 2021 under the COVAX arrangement there would still be a considerable shortfall when compared to the population of the continent which currently stands at 1.383 billion.”

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