Patents on vaccines against the coronavirus “must in no way be a brake” on the immunization of the population, said both the South African and the French president in unison during a visit by Emmanuel Macron on Friday in Pretoria, following his trip to Rwanda.
South Africa and India advocate for a waiver of patents on coronavirus vaccines so that every country can produce doses on its own.
“Patents must in no way be a brake,” said Emmanuel Macron during a joint press conference with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa and ultimately spoke out in favor of a temporary waiver of patents, even though a technology transfer should be preferred.
So far, the French president has called for “exceptions” to patents, modeled after those decided for anti-AIDS treatments to enable crisis countries to produce cheaper generics.
But “we probably won’t manage to achieve such exceptions” for Covid within the World Trade Organization (WTO), Macron admitted. “I am a pragmatist,” he continued, adding that he would at least support the demand for a waiver of patents for all Covid vaccines as long as the crisis lasts.
This proposal will be discussed at the G7 summit in June in the United Kingdom, to which South Africa has also been invited this time.
South Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in vaccinations and has so far vaccinated only about 1% of its 59 million inhabitants, with the vaccination campaign for the elderly having only started last week.
Officially, the country is the hardest-hit in Africa and now faces a looming third wave of the pandemic. There are more than 1.6 million cases and over 56,000 deaths. Across the entire African continent, there are more than 4.8 million registered Covid-19 cases, with nearly 130,000 fatalities.
“The real challenge we face is the unavailability of vaccines. Wealthy countries have bought them and are stockpiling them. We are now left empty-handed”, said President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Subsequently, the two heads of state visited the University of Pretoria campus, where the French president and German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced investment agreements to produce more vaccines in Africa.
“A vaccine for every African”, was the goal set by the CEO of the South African laboratory Aspen, Stephen Saad, to the officials. Further industrial projects, especially in Senegal, are being explored.
Macron’s visit to South Africa, planned for more than a year, had to be postponed due to the pandemic. On Saturday morning, he will meet the French-South African community and then visit the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg before flying back to France.