South Africa tells rich countries to stop 'hoarding' COVID-19 vaccines
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused wealthy countries of "hoarding" excess doses of COVID-19 vaccines that they had ordered but did not immediately need.
Without identifying specific countries, Ramaphosa asserted that rich nations had "acquired large doses of vaccines" -- some "up to four times what their population needs" -- with the aim of "hoarding" them and "to the exclusion of other countries in the world that most need this." He said ending the global pandemic "will require greater collaboration on the rollout of vaccines, ensuring that no country is left behind in this effort."
"We need those who have hoarded the vaccines to release the vaccines so that other countries can have them," Ramaphosa told a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. "We are all not safe if some countries are vaccinating their people and other countries are not."
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/cyril-ramaphosa-file-reuters-210_hpEmbed_20210126-085205_3x4_992.jpg)
Ramaphosa's comments come as African nations grapple with a rising number of COVID-19 infections. South Africa accounts for nearly half of the continent's confirmed cases and deaths from the disease, according to the latest data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ramaphosa chairs the African Union, which secured a provisional 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers last week for its 55 member states across the continent. Ramaphosa said those doses will supplement the 600 million to be acquired from the COVAX Facility, a global initiative co-led by the World Health Organization to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries regardless of income.