In countries around the globe, a central challenge to access of Covid-19 vaccines remains the ethics of fair vaccine allocation under conditions of scarcity and evolving epidemiology. This is complicated by emerging variants that have been shown to decrease the efficacy of the vaccines. South Africa has been particularly effected with over 90% of infection currently being due to the variant strain. In the South African government’s Covid-19 Vaccine Strategy published on January 3rd, 2021, a framework for equitable allocation “guided by African indigenous values of interdependence, interrelatedness, mutually respectful discussion and dialogue”, has been discussed. As part of the Global Health Ethics and Justice series, we will be joined by Professor Ames Dhai, a prominent bioethicist and Vice-Chair on the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee for Covid-19 Vaccines, for an in-depth discussion about how this African ethics framework was developed, the ethical principles that underpin it, and what this might look like if these values were applied to the global situation.
Speakers
- Ames Dhai, Specialist Ethicist, South African Medical Research Council
- Moderator: Sridhar Venkatapuram, Chair, Independent Resource Group for Global Health Justice
