By Victor C Kirk
- “Many South Africans have reacted with shock and disappointment at news that the 1.5 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines will not be as effective as experts had hoped against the new variant…”
- “… The trial was carried out by researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the UK’s Oxford University’. …’the chief investigator, Prof Shabir Mahdi, said it showed that “unfortunately, the AstraZeneca vaccine does not work against mild and moderate illness”.
- “Scientists say the new variant accounts for 90% of new cases in South Africa”.
- “…the study only involved young people….and so it didn’t assess whether the vaccine protects against severe disease caused by the variant”
- “The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine should still be rolled out in areas affected by new variants – including the South African one”.
I am neither an expert on vaccines nor a physician but certainly the previous comments from BBC news, are food for thought when historical evidence is rampant that “minorities” were used as front-line guinea pigs to foster the efficacy of experimental treatments for diseases of mankind whose cure was undiscovered. The advent of COVID-19 becomes yet another notch in a scientific journey for a cure for a treacherous disease that has crippled the economy of nations and sent millions around the world to their graves. Loved ones lost at a time when their age commanded more of our attention, a renewal of appreciation for those over the age of 65, speaking mostly of our parents and those our age representing colleagues born during an era of enlightenment. Our grandparents survived slavery and parents the bitter divide of intense racial discrimination that followed. We were products of the civil rights movement, some participating and others of an age that allowed us to benefit when doors were opened by our older brothers or sisters or uncles or aunts. We were asked to trust our instincts, get degrees, hold on to a job for more than a year or two and find a mate that loves and respects us, and reciprocate.
Now we are being asked to trust “the science”. It used to be trust the government but Trump and Regan and to some extend even Clinton destroyed any thoughts that our government would “serve and protect”. The Black Lives Matter movement brought attention to not only police brutality, but systemic racism. COVID-19 resurrected inequities in vaccine distribution and concerns that we are asked once again, to trust someone other than ourselves. Trust the research, trust the science, trust Dr. Fausci. Those in South Africa are being asked to trust the WHO – World Health Organization. I wonder, however, how can we when evidence surfaces that the “go to vaccine” is perhaps only 57% effective and that current test results focused on a population “with an average age of 31”.
Power remains in the hands of the rich and well connected. Who do we turn to that can bring a degree of comfort in a decision of South African’s to “vaccinate”? The data requires interpretation and further research. Will the United Nations investigate the decision of the World Health Organization? Will the decision of the WHO become a target of the International Criminal Court (ICC)? Poverty is a useless status to effect global change but a collective will can endure the test of time.
