In response to the news that vaccines manufactured in South Africa are being exported to Europe, Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said:

“We have long been calling for companies to consider manufacturing doses in regions that remain inequitably served of COVID-19 vaccines. That they should then be exported to regions that have vaccinated a majority of their population is incomprehensible. The African continent is still the most underserved in terms of receiving doses -- barely 2% of people across the region have been vaccinated. Yet, it is clear that profits are still trumping humanity. If compassion will not open the door to the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine doses, then let it be science, for none of us is safe until we all are. If parts of the world remain unvaccinated, this pandemic will not end.”

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In London: Teresa Goncalves, [email protected], +44 7891 857 056

In Nairobi: Euloge Ishimwe, [email protected], +254 202 835 246