What are the politics behind vaccine roll-out and why does Africa have the slowest and lowest vaccination rate of any continent?
In our third DAWN Talks series for 2021, the Feminist for a People’s Vaccine (FPV) campaign hosted a powerful online conversation with Maaza Seyoum (African Alliance/PVA), working at the frontlines of access to medicines, and Alejandra Scampini (PODER), a feminist activist and researcher who has been tracking corporate interests informing vaccine roll-out and supply.
Rich countries continue to hoard vaccines and administer booster shots while millions of African health-care workers, senior citizens, and other high-risk groups wait for their first jab.
In this talk, Maaza sketched out disturbing similarities in the struggles Africans faced for access to antiretroviral treatment during the HIV pandemic and now, in the fight for Covid-19 vaccines; the myths that were peddled about Africans during the HIV pandemic are echoed today as the third wave of infections ravages the continent.
An exaggerated narrative about vaccine hesitancy among Africans is being used to cover the egregious practices of pharma companies who are curating supply to maximise profits. In this talk, Maaza debunked these myths and highlighted the deep structural racism that informs discourses on Africa during the pandemic.
Watch the recording here: