COVID-19 : Africa shouldn’t be punished over new variants-AfDB President
COVID-19 : Africa shouldn’t be punished over new variants-AfDB President
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has criticised world leaders for blaming African countries for new COVID-19 variants and mutations happening across the world.
Adesina, one of the strong advocates of equity in vaccine distribution, said this in a series of tweets on Sunday in the wake of the new COVID-19 variant spreading and causing panic.
The South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) had last Thursday announced the discovery of the new variant of coronavirus, known as B.1.1.529. The World Health Organisation (WHO) later tagged it “Omicron” and designated it a ‘variant of concern’ (VOC) because of its “concerning” number of mutations.
Scientists had said the new Omicron could evade the body’s immune response, making it more transmissible.
Apart from South Africa, the new variant has been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Israel, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Since the discovery, many nations have rushed to place travel restrictions on South Africa and other countries in the region.
Adesina said Africa is not the source of the COVID-19 pandemic and should not be penalised for new variants, urging for global justice, equity, and fairness in access to vaccines.
“Africa should not be labelled and penalized for COVID-19 variants and mutations that occur randomly elsewhere in the world. Africa is not the source of COVID-19,” he tweeted.
“There must be global justice, equity and fairness in access to vaccines. Global vaccine supply system has underserved Africa. Protecting one’s home alone in the midst of a forest fire does not work. Put out the forest fire.
“Africa must accelerate the manufacturing of its own vaccines & set up its own “healthcare security defence system”. Africa must no longer outsource health security of its 1.8 billion people to the benevolence of others.”
Africa should not be labelled and penalized for COVID-19 variants and mutations that occur randomly elsewhere in the world. Africa is not the source of COVID-19. @WHO @DrTedros @CyrilRamaphosa @PaulKagame @AUC_MoussaFaki— Akinwumi A. Adesina (@akin_adesina) November 28, 2021
On Saturday, South Africa also said it was being punished for its advanced ability to detect new COVID-19 variants. The African nation said the travel bans and restrictions imposed would affect its economy.
