The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is considering a legal challenge to help South Africans gain access to a Covid-19 vaccine.
The Institute announced yesterday that it would be writing to the minister of health, Zweli Mkhize; each of the nine health MECs; as well as the heads of the major hospital and medical and health insurance groups to determine ‘what vaccine-related supplies have been procured, from which providers, how these will be distributed, and when such distribution will begin’.
The Institute said that it obtained legal advice on compelling action to ensure that South Africans have access to a vaccine should it become necessary.
The CEO of the IRR, Dr Frans Cronje, said: ‘It is not good enough to say there is a plan to procure vaccines. South Africans need to know what has been procured and when it will be available. This is not unreasonable given that other countries have been able to take these steps, publish the information, and actually get the vaccines to people.’ He also said that South Africa was falling behind other countries, including other middle income states, in the vaccine arms race.
Cronje added that the IRR believed that the government, with support from the private sector, could ‘easily and rapidly finance vaccine procurement’.
The IRR said the government’s current failures in ensuring a clear and affordable path to securing a Covid-19 vaccine for South Africa meant the toll the virus was taking on the country would be ‘catastrophically exacerbated’.
On Monday a number of trade unions also criticised the government for its failure in ensuring a secure supply of the vaccine for the country. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), a key government ally, said in a statement: ‘It is clear that we are dealing with colossal mismanagement of the vaccine procurement process’.
Solidarity was also critical, especially of the government’s strategy of controlling procurement but expecting private sector resources. Said the union: ‘The state cannot be in control while the private sector provides the finances. The state has a poor management record. During the pandemic, the government has repeatedly proven that it is not competent to take the lead. It is this incompetence that has led to the delay in obtaining the vaccine, and the government should be kept as far away from this process as possible.’
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