What’s Ahead in Africa’s Fight Against COVID-19

NALEDI PANDOR, SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I think we all need to ensure that we remain vigilant. We must keep our systems, our health systems, prepared for any surge of the virus. It’s absolutely important. The World Health Organization and other research institutions have been providing consistent advice that it’s not over yet. Don’t relax your guard. So, I think we should remain vigilant and make sure that we have hospital beds available, and particularly ventilators. Oxygen appears to be key. But we also must ramp up the vaccination program and ensure that the ramping up is inclusive. We’re arguing for expansion of production facilities in the developing world. We think that there are African countries that have the capacity to produce. And should we agree on relaxation of intellectual property rights holding, it will assist us to have more sites for producing the vaccine, and then allow for more equitable distribution to countries that need support.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: OK. So, let me ask you, then, because this has been the news of the day. And, certainly, you must have been talking about it with certainly the secretary of state and your other G7 partners, because South Africa and India, invited to attend this G7 as friends, have clearly asked formally for these patents and other intellectual property rights to be relaxed. And that’s gone to the WTO, which is discussing it now. But the U.S. faces a dilemma. President Biden appears to be somewhat conflicted. He’s only committed so far to providing some 60 million unused AstraZeneca doses. What are they telling you inside the closed rooms that you’re negotiating in right now here in London, or you have been doing? Will you get patent waivers? Will you get production waivers, et cetera?

PANDOR: I think there’s still a battle to be had with respect to this goal that India and South Africa have put before the world. But in our meeting, we certainly recognized that much more has to be done. And to rely on that traditional producers, traditional approaches, and to believe distribution at the level we need will happen is just not good enough.