Dear Editor,
I read Sarah Johnson's piece on 130 celebrities supporting the "People's Vaccine Alliance" demand to make Covid-Technology (vaccines, treatment and testing) available to the developing world (The Guardian, 11th March 2022, link below) and can't help but think that maybe this is going in the wrong direction.
I recently returned from a visit to Kenya where, apart from mandatory mask-wearing, there is very little sign of Covid: Most of the poorer people that I talked to (e.g. taxi-drivers) simply shrugged it off as a minor problem compared to all the other diseases and hardships from which they suffer. Indeed, the main problem seemed to be a massive drop in income due to Western tourists deciding, en masse (due to Covid), to simply not go there.
The West chose to take the path of "vaccination and lockdown" whereas Africa (Kenya) had to go with infection as a.) they did not have the money for vaccines and b.) lockdowns cause more hardship (e.g. starvation) than benefit. Kenya has a young population and the aged are invariably those hardy people who can withstand disease so now they have extremely low infection rates with "exposure creating herd immunity" being possibly the correct path for them.
And now, "after the event", The West wants to export vaccine and medical technology to those countries. I find this extremely misguided as, as far as I could see, medical measures were a way of splitting society: For example the mask-wearing was a tool for police to bully (poorer) people who did not happen to be wearing a mask. And it will be the same with vaccines: Poorer Kenyans will be excluded as the "gate-keepers" to various rich ghettos and cliques will be able to say: "not without your vaccine certificate".
So, rather than us attempting to export our high-tech to Africa, wouldn't it be far better for us to "get real" and, whilst still protecting our vulnerable, let the rest of our society (like Africa) return to normal behaviour.
Regards
