Prescription for pandemic cure is state-business partnership

Vaccine nationalism is as shortsighted as it is foolish

SA’s economic recovery prospects hinge on a well-implemented vaccination programme that will help stop the spread of Covid and open the space for us to rebuild those parts of our economy and society that have been ravaged by the pandemic.

This applies to the global economy too. It is almost inconceivable to imagine a return to normal without a globally co-ordinated, successful vaccination programme. The longer the world takes to ensure that vaccines are accessible on a global scale, the longer it is likely to take the world to return to normal.

Vaccine nationalism is as shortsighted as it is foolish. Hoarding of vaccines is bad for both the “vaccine haves” and the “vaccine have-nots”. Vaccine apartheid is as bad as apartheid was in SA and should be condemned in the same way apartheid was.

There is an urgent and serious need for co-ordinated global action and leadership to ensure fair, equitable access to vaccines on a global scale. Rich countries have thus far resisted calls to share their vaccines with developing nations.

That is a shameful demonstration of a lack of global solidarity. That is unhelpful. There is no continent or country that can effectively and fully recover from the pandemic on its own while leaving others still infected.

Countries and leaders who have the “my country and my people first” mentality live in cloud-cuckoo-land.

Why? Because globalisation is an inexorable force that will remain at play beyond the pandemic.

In the context of a globalised and still globalising world, the twin evils of what have come to be known as vaccine nationalism and vaccine apartheid can only prolong the pandemic and slow the pace at which the world, as a whole, can return to the state of normalcy that is a prerequisite for meaningful global economic recovery and sustainable growth and prosperity.

We need all hands on deck to build back better by growing the economy, creating jobs and protecting the environment. Growth and prosperity are more sustainable if they are shared among nations and peoples. This is the time for economic strategies and policies that empower more people and disempower no-one, to ensure that inequalities are reduced and poverty is eradicated.

A more inclusive and humane brand of capitalism is required to ensure a speedy, sustainable recovery from the ashes of the pandemic. This requires visionary and compassionate leadership at national, regional and global levels.

The suffering of people in India as that country is overwhelmed by the pandemic requires the world to speedily unite and act and share resources. India is also a key, strategic location for vaccine production.

This week’s resumption of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccination trial rollout in SA is the right step in the right direction.

Our government has done a great job in contracting for adequate supplies to cover enough people to achieve herd, or as President Cyril Ramaphosa prefers to call it, population immunity, to be attained. This is very commendable indeed.

It is through a highly successful and wellexecuted vaccination programme that SA and the world at large can contain and defeat the pandemic. Fewer than half of SA’s health-care workers have been vaccinated thus far.

That is not even 1% of the total population. That number should now grow with the resumption of the J&J rollout and preparations being under way for the wider rollout to those who are 60 years and above from May 17.

Sub-Saharan Africa has vaccinated 1% of the continent’s population. Globally 13% of the world’s adult population have received their first dose, most of whom are in rich, developed countries such as the US, UK, Canada and Israel.

SA and Africa are clearly far behind the global average. The disproportionate burden of disease combined with fragile and weak health-care systems, institutions and infrastructure means that Africa needs to urgently access and roll out vaccines to the majority of its people.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control has set a target of vaccinating 60% of Africa’s population by the end of 2022. If this commendable target is to be achieved, there is an urgent need for the pace of vaccination to be accelerated.

The urgency of protecting our healthcare workers who are at the coalface of this pandemic cannot be overemphasised.

The same applies to the strategic imperative of vaccinating the requisite number of people in SA and the world to attain herd, or population immunity, which will enable a return to normalcy. This in turn is an indispensable prerequisite for the success of our reconstruction and recovery plan as well as building back better on a global scale.

What are the critical success factors for this?

First, effective and meaningful collaboration between the government and the private sector. It is very encouraging that we are seeing this happening. There is a need for this collaboration to be more strategic and underpinned by trust; it requires a deep commitment to creative medium- to long-term partnerships that deliver growth and prosperity for all.

Second, there must be role clarity between the government and business. There are things the government can and does do best, such as regulating the landscape. There are things the private sector does best, such as logistics, supply chains, project management and efficient processes and systems.

Third, proper and effective communication of SA’s vaccine rollout plans and the progress being made in combating the so-called South African variant is crucial. SA’s global reputation has suffered severely and this has left our tourism and hospitality industries, which are major job providers, in tatters.

Other countries have had their own variants but have been spared the suffering that SA has endured. This is the time to look ahead and proactively and effectively win hearts and minds so that SA’s esteem and status as an admired nation is restored sooner rather than later.