https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / All News RSS ← Back
Africa|Testing
Africa|Testing
africa|testing
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

'We are not guinea pigs,' say South African anti-vaccine protesters

Close

Embed Video

'We are not guinea pigs,' say South African anti-vaccine protesters

'We are not guinea pigs,' say South African anti-vaccine protesters

2nd July 2020

By: Reuters

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Anti-vaccine protesters took to the streets in Johannesburg on Wednesday to voice their concern over Africa's first human trials for a potential coronavirus vaccine.

Last Wednesday, the University of the Witwatersrand in partnership with Oxford University rolled out South Africa's first clinical trial, which will consist of 2 000 volunteers.

Advertisement

The involvement of South Africa in vaccine trials is intended to ensure the continent will have access to an affordable vaccine and not be left at the back of the queue.

About 50 people held protests at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, saying they did not want Africans to be used as guinea pigs, reflecting concerns among some on the continent over testing drugs on people who do not understand the risks.

Advertisement

"I'm not happy at all! I mean this feels like the 1980s all over again when the AIDS pandemic just broke out in South Africa," said 29-year-old graphic designer Tebogo Legoale.

Some of the placards carried by demonstrators read: "We are not guinea pigs."

Twenty-nine-year-old community activist Walter Mashilo said the vaccine should be tested first on members of parliament and ministers' children, not on poor people.

"We are clear, comrades, we don't want this vaccine (trial)," he said, addressing the crowd.

South Africa has the highest rate of infections on the continent, with confirmed cases at over 150 000 and more than 2 600 deaths.

Traditional healers are also fighting for their medicine to be used against the virus instead of a vaccine.

"We are not going to follow a vaccine because we as healers believe that our traditional medicine is not given a chance," said Sellwane Mokatsi, 32-year-old compliance officer, who is also part of the traditional healers' organisation.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now