Photo: GCIS
Photo: GCIS
Cyril Ramaphosa was invited to the world’s top table on Wednesday, after he was asked to speak at the White House Global Summit on COVID-19. The President certainly didn’t spurn the opportunity, and delivered some home truths.
Cyril Ramaphosa addresses White House Summit
The theme of the summit centred around ways to end the current pandemic, and how to prepare for the next one. Ramaphosa, however, was keen to discuss issues surrounding vaccine distribution. He lectured US President Joe Biden about rich countries who ‘hoard the jabs’, and told world leaders that they are ‘failing to reach targets’.
“We have committed to vaccinating at least 70% of the world’s population by next year, but we are now at the end of September and have not reached the 10% target that was set out in May.”
“The gulf is widening between better-resourced nations who are buying up and even hoarding vaccines and developing countries who are struggling to have access to vaccines. The pandemic has revealed the full extent of the vaccine gap between developed and developing economies and how that gap can severely undermine global health security.”
“Of the around 6 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide, only 2% of these have been administered in Africa, a continent of more than 1,2 billion people. This is unjust and immoral.” | Cyril Ramaphosa
SA President lectures Biden, world leaders on ‘meeting targets’
A bullish President Ramaphosa also explained to the attendees what he’d like to see going forward, advising the Summit to help support developing countries and help out the COVAX initiative with more funding.
Only 2% of all jobs administered worldwide so far have gone to Africa – a continent of 1.2 billion people. For Cyril, this simply isn’t good enough, and he hopes that lessons are being learned ahead of any future pandemics.
“This Summit must come up with a sustainable plan on how developing countries will be supported. Not only to meet targets around vaccination, oxygen, diagnostics, personal protective equipment but also for manufacturing. We must close the financing and supply gap for COVAX, AVATT and other mechanisms.”
“The greatest lesson we have learned from this pandemic is that fortune favours the prepared. Cooperation, collective action, and above all consensus, is our greatest strength in the current crisis, and will continue to be so in the future.”
