South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has accused rich countries of hoarding Covid-19 vaccines at the expense of the world’s poorest people.
Mr Ramaphosa, chairman of the African Union, warned on Tuesday that the global fight against the pandemic could be prolonged if “vaccine nationalism” continues unabated.
He said countries that had acquired vaccine supplies that went “far beyond” the size of their population should donate excess stock to poor nations.
“We are concerned about vaccine nationalism,” he told the World Economic Forum, which was held virtually this year.
“The rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses of vaccines from manufacturers and developers. Some countries have gone beyond and acquired four times what their countries need.”
“We are saying ‘release the vaccines you have hoarded’.”
The mutation of the virus first identified in South Africa has caused havoc in the nation of 58 million.
The second wave of the disease in November led to a significant increase in infections through to early January, although the number of cases has started to fall recently.
Research suggests the new strain could be resistant to existing immunity among those who have previously been infected with Covid.
Several countries, including the UK and US, have imposed travel restrictions on arrivals from South Africa.
Mr Ramaphosa didn’t mention the new variant in his address but said the disease had created more inequality in his country.
The African Union has acquired 270 million vaccination doses from manufacturers, while the World Health Organisation’s Covax initiative will bring 600 million to the continent’s poorer countries, he said.
The supply will fall well short of inoculation for all of Africa’s 1.2 billion residents given that two doses need to be administered for each person.
In contrast, the UK has access to 357 million doses from seven vaccine developers, according to the government.
Mr Ramaphosa said the world was not safe “if some countries are vaccinating and others are not”.
“It must not be something that special countries or certain countries have on their own to the exclusion of others,” he said.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
The Bio
Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride
She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.
Her dream is to meet with all of her friends online from around the world who supported her work throughout the years
Her favourite meal is pizza and stuffed vine leaves
She ams to improve her English and learn Japanese, which many animated programmes originate in