People protest against Coronavirus trials in Africa, outside the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Protesters against Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial burned their face masks Wednesday as experts note a worrying level of resistance around testing on the continent.
They raised a number of concerns about the manner in which Wits University is going about rolling out clinical trials. One of their concerns is the fact the vaccine is tested on black people from Soweto and other nearby townships.
Bill Gates Foundation has partnered with The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) to develop the very first vaccine in Africa.
From Commercial News, Illinois USA.."People protest against Coronavirus trials in Africa, outside the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, July 1, 2020." #NoVaccinesInAfrica pic.twitter.com/o5RLQ1a0t1
— Sean "Mr G" Goss (@goss_spg) July 2, 2020
The university announced that it is going ahead with vaccine trials during a virtual press conference.
It is reported that the institution will enrol 2,000 people between the ages of 18 and 65 for the trial, which was expected to be run at multiple sites in the country.
Wits reported that vaccine trials are a result of a collaboration with the University of Oxford and the Oxford Jenner Institute.
Wits University's Professor of Vaccinology and a director of SAMRC’s Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics (VIDA) Research Unit, Shabir Madhi, is the man behind the South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial.
"This is a landmark moment for South Africa and Africa at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we enter winter in South Africa and pressure increases on public hospitals, now more than ever we need a vaccine to prevent infection by COVID-19," said Madhi at the launch of the South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial.
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