By Canadian Press

South African envoy calls on Canada to support waiver on COVID-19 vaccines

Nov 30, 2021 | 10:26 AM

OTTAWA — South Africa’s envoy in Ottawa is calling on Canada to support a waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines as her country copes with the fallout of its discovery of the new Omicron variant.

South African High Commissioner Sibongiseni Dlamini-Mntambo criticized Canada’s ban on travel from southern African countries as both shocking and knee-jerk after scientists from her country discovered the new variant of concern and dutifully reported it to the World Health Organization.

Dlamini-Mntambo tells The Canadian Press that the emergence of Omicron is rooted in the vaccine inequity that has resulted in less than one-quarter of her country being fully vaccinated, while children in the West get their first shots and some adults their third. 

South Africa and India have drafted a waiver at the World Trade Organization that calls for patents on COVID-19 vaccines that big pharmaceutical companies hold to be suspended to speed up their manufacture and distribution to less-developed countries.  

Numerous experts have long predicted that new variants would emerge in less developed countries if the pace of vaccinating their citizens lags behind richer countries.  

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is adding his voice today to those calling for a patent waiver, saying Canada should not be protecting the interests of pharmaceutical companies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2021.

The Canadian Press