Religious leaders in South Africa signed a letter on behalf of The People’s Vaccine Campaign Of South Africa that urges the US medical team leading the COVID-19 pandemic response to address the global vaccine shortage, and urges the US government to take specific actions.
Frontline actions by African faith communities in mitigating against the novel coronavirus are being welcomed as timely, as groups move to support people left vulnerable by the pandemic.
Africa is of huge concern around the novel coronavirus pandemic for the World Health Organization (WHO), but the continent’s churches have been preparing for the silent and lethal virus for some time.
As the UN warns that the coronavirus pandemic is pushing millions to the brink if starvation in a “widespread famine of biblical proportions,” a senior Christian leader in Africa has emphasised that it is possible to beat hunger, a yoke that enslaves many in the continent.
The All Africa Conference of Churches joined many across the world in expressing shock and dismay at remarks from two French scientists during a live interview on the French television channel LCI, suggesting that Africa should be the testing ground for treatment for the coronavirus.