The chairperson of the ministerial advisory committee (MAC) on Covid-19 vaccines, Professor Barry Schoub, has claimed researchers missed the opportunity to leverage the country’s participation in clinical trials to secure access to vaccines once they became available.
Schoub made the comments during an interview with Judge Dennis Davis, published on Wednesday, while the state faces criticism for failing to conclude any bilateral agreements with vaccine manufacturers.
He said the country’s ability to access vaccines went wrong when leaders of clinical trials did not insist that manufacturers are contractually obliged to supply their products to South Africa.
“It should have been a commitment as part of their arrangement. We didn’t do that. We could have had Johnson & Johnson. We could have had AstraZeneca and to some extent also Pfizer because they were trialled here,” said Schoub.