South African activists slam J&J for exporting vaccines

Health activists in Africa have slammed Johnson & Johnson for exporting COVID-19 vaccines produced in South Africa to Europe, as reported in This is Money.

The J&J vaccines were exported from South Africa despite the need for vaccines across Africa, where less than 3% of the continent’s population have been fully vaccinated.

The activists on Tuesday called for a full disclosure of the South African government’s contracts with J&J and other vaccine manufacturers and threatened legal action to get the information.

The South African activists reacted to revelations by a report by The New York Times that millions of J&J doses produced by Aspen Pharmacare in South Africa are being exported to Europe. According to the report, the South African government agreed to waive its right to ban exports to make sure that J&J could ship the vaccines abroad.

"We believe that the conduct of Johnson & Johnson has been scandalous, immoral and unconstitutional," said Fatima Hassan of the Health Justice Initiative, an advocacy group in South Africa.

The organization has filed a request under South Africa’s Promotion of Access to Information Act to gain access to the contracts, she added.