Battle over jab procurement

The Health Justice Initiative (HJI) has filed court papers asking to join a court case against the minister of health and 16 others which lobbied for the private sector to procure Covid-19 vaccines outside of government.

The public health and law initiative, set up to address the intersection between racial and gender inequality, specifically focusing on access to life-saving diagnostics, treatment and vaccines, have applied to be what is commonly referred to as a “friend of the court”.

The HJI wishes to provide expert evidence in the case brought by civil society group AfriForum and trade union Solidarity.

Its position was that with high demand for vaccines and limited supply, private sector procurement independent and outside of a national strategy would place vulnerable and marginalised persons at higher risk.

“Any attempt at queue-jumping to access Covid-19 vaccines at the expense of others who need it more will worsen pandemic outcomes and exacerbate and entrenched health inequities in our country.

“We need ‘One Plan’ for an effective and equitable vaccine roll-out for our country,” said HJI head Fatima Hassan.

Since the pandemic, the organisation has been involved in cases involving the overpricing of personal protective equipment where it also acted as “friend of the court”.

In January, AfriForum and Solidarity filed papers seeking a declaratory order allowing the private sector and provincial health bodies to procure and distribute a Covid-19 vaccine.