Digital Campaign of #VaccinateOurWorld and #vownow has called  on world leaders to take action to vaccinate the world against COVID-19.

The call was made during Vaccinate Our World (VOW) Pan African Virtual Panel Discussion was held recently.

The Panel discussion was hosted by the largest global AIDS organisation, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).

AHF is transferring know-how learnt from the fight against HIV to the war against COVID-19.

Panellists at the conference included the esteemed: Allan Maleche, Executive Director of KELIN and the Board Member Developing County NGOs of the Global Fund Board; Professor Christian Happi, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics and Director of African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID); Professor Jeffrey Mphahlele, Vice President of the South African Medical Research Council; Thokozani Ndaba, Founding Member and current Executive Director of Ntethelelo Foundation in Johannesburg: Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year in Activism category 2018; and Dr. Penninah Lutung, Bureau Chief of AHF Africa as well as Alice Kayongo, AHF Regional Policy and Advocacy Manager for East and West Africa.

Insight was shared and messages were imparted creating a synergy of collaboration and a practical guideline of manageable steps world leaders should be considering to vaccinate world citizens and stop the spread of COVID-19.

One such discussion centred around morals gained through the wavering of intellectual property around antiretrovirals (ART) therapy for HIV infection.

How removing Technical Regulation Information System (TRIS) and transferring tech and know-how would enable the better management of vaccines and reduce the threat of the COVID pandemic considerably.

During the (2013 – 2016) Western African Ebola virus epidemic, the genetic data gathered allowed a better response to the outbreak: An action that ultimately led to the establishment of the Africa Centre of Pandemic Disease – the Africa CDC. The war against COVID-19 could use research facilities already available in Africa would help with real-time action today.

“If the whole world is not vaccinated, Africa, along with all developing countries, runs the risk of becoming a breeding ground for new variants,” says Dr. Penninah Lutung, Bureau Chief of AHF Africa. Around this topic, the salient point of genomics was raised, an important means of studying and understanding the mutation and evolution of COVID-19 and the consequent effect on vaccines.

“The risk is ever-present that if vaccines aren’t administered fast enough, new variants of COVID-19 will emerge that will not respond to the vaccines available,” explains Lutung.

Overstocking of vaccines by countries in the developed world was questioned: The restricted access of the developing world to vaccines leaves many unprotected and gives COVID-19 time to mutate beyond vaccine effectiveness. In addition, vaccine-hoarding countries were asked to reveal their plans to get their surplus vaccines to the developing world.

The objectives of the #VaccinateOurWorld campaign are:

• The global COVID-19 vaccination effort must secure $100 billion from G20 countries,
• To produce and provide seven billion vaccine doses worldwide within one year,
• Companies and governments must waive or suspend ALL COVID-19 vaccine patents during the pandemic,
• Countries must be 100% transparent in sharing information and data, and finally,
• World leaders must also promote far greater international cooperation as the driving force for ending the pandemic, not continue with politics as usual.