“Coronavirus: Why Africans should take part in vaccine trials.”

Anne Mawathe. “Coronavirus: Why Africans should take part in vaccine trials.” BBC. May 18, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52678741

How has learning World History this summer grown your ability to understand or appreciate the article?

How you would have read the article 3 months ago. Do you think you read it differently now? In what way?

The article “Coronavirus: Why Africans should take part in vaccine trials” outlines the importance of Africans to take part in the coronavirus vaccine trials. Of course this has been followed by an uproar of people against using African people as guinea pigs—“there is evidence that pharmaceutical companies have carried out trials in parts of Africa, with little regard to ethics or even simple respect for human life” (Mawathe, 2020). Nevertheless, scientist like Ugandan researcher Catherine Kyobutungi affirms that things have changed. She argues that the process of testing is more rigorous and transparent—“there are safeguards at the individual level” (Mawathe, 2020). However such reassurance are often deafened by “fake news” on social media—theories about a plot to carry out harmful vaccinations on black people with the aim of killing them. On the other hand, Africa has many expert scientist but due to underfunding scientist go to work elsewhere. Many licensed drugs come out of clinical trials in richer countries in North America and Europe, meaning that their effectiveness for use in Africa goes unchecked. This poses a huge risk to Africans because they can be left out of a viable vaccine in addition to not knowing if the makeup of the vaccine works with their genetic makeup. 

Three months ago and now I would have still appreciated the information of this article, still this is a very controversial topic. Additional research needs to be done to conclude the claims that human testing in Africa is safer and transparent. Due to the history of racial inequality, racism, and segregation I can see why many are against any type of trials in Africa. Yet, we have to take into consideration that not all bodies are the same, our genetic makeup is different.  Certain countries face different circumstances and thus vaccines work differently.