South Africans Allege The Poor Are Being Used As 'Guinea Pigs' For COVID-19 Vaccine Trials

The first phase of human trials of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford is underway in South Africa.?

For the trials, approximately 2,000 volunteers are expected to take part. However, some locals aren't too happy with the approach.?

Reuters

In the growing clamour against the trials, protesters have claimed that researchers are picking out people who are vulnerable and won't question the risks involved, reports?AP.

A small band of demonstrators gathered at the University of the Witwatersrand, where the trial is based, holding placards which read 'We're not guinea pigs' and burned their masks in anger.?

Also Read: Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Has 80-90% Success Rate, As Final Human Trials Begin

They?reflected the long-running fears among some in Africa over testing drugs on people who come from marginalised backgrounds.?

A 29-year-old community activist Walter Mashilo said the vaccine should be tested first on members of parliament and ministers’ children, not on poor people.??

"The people chosen as volunteers for the vaccination, they look as if they’re from poor backgrounds, not qualified enough to understand” protest organiser Phapano Phasha told The Associated Press ahead of the event. “We believe they are manipulating the vulnerable.”??

Reuters

The involvement of South Africa in vaccine trials is intended to ensure the continent will have access to an affordable vaccine and is not left out, reports Reuters.? ?

Experts, on the other hand, say that there is a worrying level of resistance and misinformation around testing on the continent.?Anti-vaccine sentiment in Africa is “the worst I’ve ever seen,” the CEO of the GAVI vaccine alliance, Seth Berkley, told an?African Union vaccine conference?last week.

Also Read:?Indian COVID-19 Vaccine, COVAXIN Gets Approval, Human Trials In July

“In general, people in Africa know the diseases and want to protect each other,?In this case, the rumour mill has been dramatic."?Seth Berkley told AP.?

The trial that began last week in Johannesburg is part of one already underway in Britain of the vaccine developed at the University of Oxford.?

All Inputs AP/Reuters