Sad news about Africa and Covax
Covid-19 vaccines: Why some African states can't use their vaccines
African countries have struggled to get vaccines, but some are now throwing away thousands of doses.www.bbc.co.uk
This makes me so cross. I cannot wait to get a vaccine as is 70% of average South Africans. We cannot wait. The decision to not use Astrazenica in South Africa was purely based on the fact some of the people the vaccine was trialed on caught covid just as they were getting the vaccine. The doctor who ran the study here in South Africa did an interview making it known the vaccine will work but we have a mix of politicians trying to control as much as they can because they have a bit of power and any excuse to keep a state of disaster in our country to benefit themselves. We would have been far further in our vaccine process if it weren't for politicians.
They literally had to make up a new study in South Africa to get vaccines to our health care workers. The doctor who ran the Johnson's and Johnson's trial went out of her way to arrange free vaccines with Johnson's and Johnson's and format it as a study with our health minister just to make sure the health workers could be protected. She herself also enrolled in the Astra zenica trial to help the process.
To put it into perspective. When Britain and other countries were securing vaccines. Our government found it more prudent to dictate to us where we were allowed to shop and what we were allowed to buy from said stores. Down to you cannot order online or buy t-shirts or what we call flip flops or slops, basically sandals or what Australians call thongs. We were not allowed to leave our houses unless to do essential shopping of food at stores and even then things like already cooked chicken or pre cooked food were not allowed to be sold. No take aways, no alcohol, no cigarettes. Mothers having babies couldn't buy baby clothes and we were even allowed to leave the house to go on walks. Can you imagine what this was like in informal settlements where people live 10 to a room just big enough for a bed?
They have amazing innovations to get vaccines to isolated areas via drones and they even have invented devices to monitor the vaccines movements and temperatures. We just dont have vaccines and the government further delayed vaccines being supplied by medical aids here in sa so they could maintain control longer. They had to take them to court over the matter. As have many companies. As it stands my family and I can only get a vaccine August the earliest. One has to be 40 or over to register for the first phase and they are currently only vaccinating over 60s. We however, with many others in my family, are going to wait for people who live in informal settlements before we get a vaccine because we have the ability to isolated and my daughter is in an online school and my husband can work from home. These are the people who serve us at the shops and restaurants and it would be better served them getting first.
Things are starting to ramp up with vaccines, but as we enter our third wave and winter starts with the Indian variant out in the world already. It is not looking promising.
My family and I are moving to the UK next year when my daughter has finished her schooling at the end of this year and if it weren't for seeing how good things are going in UK is keeping us going, I dont know what we would do. My daughter actually has a smile thinking about the future again.
I also want to thank you all on here because when I was really low this distracted me as it has done for many others. So thank you.