Museveni: Vaccine Rollouts Illustrate African Inequality

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has criticised “vaccine selfishness” across the globe, while calling on Africans to be more proactive with producing their own during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Museveni was speaking to dignitaries, and those in virtual attendance, at the first World Health Summit Regional Meeting in the country’s capital of Kampala on Sunday, 27 June.

He said: “This selfishness in the world is bad, but is good. I like it because it wakes up Africans … Africans are a disgrace to ourselves. Why do we have to depend on the outside for everything? This is a big shame for Africa.”

As the continent feels the tightening grip of a third wave, Museveni said that his fellow Africans need to stop waiting for vaccine donations and rather develop their own; he then announced that Uganda was in the process of creating a home-made COVID-19 jab.

He added: “The only help we need are the raw materials for the vaccines.”

The African Union has called patent waivers for COVID-19 shots so that they can be locally produced due to mass shortages.

Uganda currently has 78 394 confirmed cases of the virus, with 903 citizens having lost their lives. Fortunately, 51 348 people have recovered so far.