The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Government Studies recently hosted a webinar on Covid-19 vaccine nationalism, titled “Covid-19 vaccine nationalism and its socio-economic and geopolitical implications for Africa”.

The main speakers were Dr David Monyae and Dr Sizo Nkala, both from the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg.

The webinar explored how multilateralism has taken a back seat to nationalism in the global vaccination campaign, and the attendant socio-economic and geopolitical implications this may have for Africa in the long run.

Dr Monyae said the global Covid-19 pandemic has in many ways laid bare the inherent inequities and imbalances that underpin the global system.

“In particular, the development, access and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines has brought into sharp relief the unequal and contradictory relations between the developed and developing worlds. In the race to rollout vaccines to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, nationalism has trumped multilateralism,” he said.

“This has seen rich and powerful countries in the West hoarding huge quantities of vaccines – multiple times their own populations – while the majority of developing countries struggle to access the vaccines. For example, Canada, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom are reported to have ordered more than one billion vaccines out of a total of four billion vaccine orders according to pre-purchase agreements with various suppliers.”

According to Dr Monyae such aggressive acquisition of vaccines by powerful countries has undermined multilateral efforts by the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative, which was set up to expedite fair and equitable access to vaccines – especially for developing countries.

“As a result, the global vaccination campaign has been a lop-sided affair with developed countries sprinting ahead while developing countries remain in the doldrums.”

Dr Nkala said 608 million vaccine doses have been administered across the world as of 21 April 2021.

“The US alone has administered about 154 million vaccines, 25% of the global total. North America has vaccinated about 28% of its population, Europe 17%, and South America 8,8%. Asia has vaccinated 5,5% of its population, and Oceania (a geographic region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia) 1,7%, while Africa only managed a paltry 0,8%,” he explained.

“At this rate, Africa will be battling the pandemic for a long time, jeopardising the continent’s development prospects.”

Finally, both presenters agreed that Africa needs to improve its vaccine development, production and distribution capabilities through greater funding.

“This will also enable the continent to deal more effectively with other pandemics in the longer term,” concluded Dr Monyae.