COVID-19 vaccines are finally starting to make their way to the world's poorest countries as production of Chinese, Russian and Indian jabs ramps up. But it's the large-scale distribution of Chinese vaccines that's causing a lot of people around the world, particularly in U.S. and European countries, to become increasingly worried about the geopolitical ramifications.
In Africa, the Chinese have exported vaccines to half a dozen countries and are in talks with dozens more to make jabs available in the coming months. Similarly, a new air bridge between the two regions is now operational that will facilitate the transportation and distribution of vaccines throughout Africa.
Nwachukwu Egbunike, the Sub-Saharan Community Manager for the independent journalism website Global Voices, says the West isn't in a good position to complain about China's "vaccine diplomacy" given how little they're doing to help the situation. Nwachukwu joins Eric & Cobus to discuss a two-part series he wrote on the geopolitical ramifications of COVID-19 vaccine distribution for China, Africa and Western countries.
SHOW NOTES:
Read Nwachukwu Egbunike's two-part series: COVID-19 vaccine in Africa - Caught between China’s soft-power diplomacy and the West’s vaccine nationalism
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