非洲多国收到西方国家濒临过期疫苗

尼日利亚近日被迫销毁超过100万剂已过期的阿斯利康疫苗。据报道，通过“新冠肺炎疫苗实施计划”从西方国家收到的疫苗运抵尼日利亚时仅剩4-6周的有效期，无法及时投入使用。在非洲，像尼日利亚这样收到西方过期疫苗的并非个例。刚果、马拉维和塞内加尔等国都面临类似问题。

[Photo/Agencies]

Hoarding of COVID-19 vaccines by some Western countries and providing nearly expired vaccines to Africa is immoral, violates basic human rights and delays the end of the pandemic and global socioeconomic recovery, according to African experts.

据非洲专家称，一些西方国家囤积新冠疫苗，并向非洲提供接近过期的疫苗，这违反了基本人权，推迟了新冠疫情的终结时间和全球社会经济复苏的进程。

They made the remarks after Nigeria destroyed more than 1 million expired doses of AstraZeneca vaccine last week. The vaccine doses were donated by Western countries and had just weeks left on their shelf life.

在上周尼日利亚销毁了超过100万剂过期的阿斯利康疫苗后，非洲专家发表了上述言论。这些疫苗由西方国家捐赠，保质期只剩下几周。

In addition to Nigeria, countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Senegal also face similar problems of expired COVID-19 vaccines.

除尼日利亚外，刚果、马拉维和塞内加尔等国家也面临类似的过期疫苗问题。

"It is immoral and an outright violation of the basic tenets of human rights to use the continent of Africa as a dumping site for expired COVID-19 vaccines that are being donated by the Western countries," said Dennis Munene, executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Kenya-based Africa Policy Institute.

肯尼亚非洲政策研究所中非中心执行主任丹尼斯·穆内内称：“将非洲作为西方国家捐赠的过期疫苗的倾倒场所，这是违背道德的，完全违反了人权的基本原则。”

"The weakest link in the fight against COVID-19 are some of the developed countries in the West that have been overtly and covertly advocating for 'vaccine imperialism and nationalism'," Munene said.

穆内内称：“欧美地区的一些发达国家是抗击新冠病毒中最薄弱的环节，他们公然或暗地提倡“疫苗帝国主义和民族主义”。

Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigeria's National Primary Health Care Development Agency, told reporters last week that the destroyed AstraZeneca vaccine doses had been hoarded by developed countries and donated to Nigeria when they were about to expire. Some of these vaccines arrived with about four weeks of shelf life left, he said.

尼日利亚国家初级卫生保健发展局局长费萨尔·舒艾布上周告诉记者，被销毁的阿斯利康疫苗是发达国家囤积的，他们在疫苗即将过期时将其捐赠给尼日利亚。舒艾布表示，其中一些疫苗的保质期还剩下四周左右。

Gerald Mbanda, a researcher and publisher in Rwanda, said the hoarding of the vaccines by rich nations, even when the Omicron variant is spreading, is not only immoral, but also delays the end of the pandemic and global socioeconomic recovery.

来自卢旺达的研究人员兼出版商杰拉尔德·姆班达表示，即使是在奥密克戎变种传播的背景下，发达国家仍然在囤积疫苗，这不仅不道德，而且还推迟了疫情结束和全球社会经济复苏的进程。

While many rich countries are now administering booster shots to their populations, less than 9 percent of the whole population of Africa has been fully vaccinated, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. That is far below the World Health Organization target to vaccinate 40 percent of the populations in all countries by the end of the year.

许多发达国家目前正在强制民众注射加强针，而非洲疾病控制预防中心的数据显示，非洲只有不到9%的人口接种了两针疫苗。这远远低于世界卫生组织的目标，即在年底之前为所有国家40%的人口接种疫苗。

"Unless rich countries act humanely and share vaccines as well as provide patent rights for the manufacture of the vaccines in less-privileged countries, the war against the COVID-19 pandemic will be unnecessarily prolonged, as well as human suffering," Mbanda said. "No one will be safe until everyone is safe.

姆班达称：“除非发达国家采取人道主义行动，共享疫苗，并且向发展中国家提供疫苗生产的专利权，才不会无谓地延长人类经历的苦难和抗击新冠肺炎的战争。在所有人都安全之前，没有人是安全的。”

"By continuing to hoard vaccines, the rich countries are contributing to making poor countries poorer, at the same time failing to stop preventable deaths," he added.

姆班达还表示：“发达国继续囤积疫苗，导致发展中国家疫苗更加匮乏，且无法阻止本可预防的死亡。”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on Monday for countries to deliver safe and more effective vaccines to developing countries, including African countries, to make up the global vaccination gap.

（中国）外交部发言人赵立坚12月27日呼吁各国向包括非洲国家在内的发展中国家提供安全、有效的疫苗，以弥补全球疫苗接种缺口。

Some Western countries have hoarded excessive amounts of COVID-19 vaccines, resulting in huge waste, he said, adding that China will continue to honor its commitment to making the vaccines a global public good and providing them to developing countries in need.

赵立坚表示，少数西方国家囤积的疫苗远超自身所需，浪费严重。中国将坚持把疫苗作为全球公共产品，向有需要的发展中国家提供疫苗。

Munene said China has provided nearly 2 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, making it the world's largest provider, and none of them have been near the expiration date.

穆内内称，中国已经向120多个国家和国际组织提供了近20亿剂疫苗，是全球对外提供疫苗最多的国家，而且没有任何一剂疫苗是濒临过期。

"Unlike some of the developed countries that are playing politics with the pandemic, China is committed to its pledge of building a community with a shared future for mankind," he said.

他说：“与一些利用疫情玩政治游戏的发达国家不同的是，中国致力于构建人类命运共同体。”

来源：China Daily

记者：王晓东 柳洪杰对本文亦有贡献

编辑：董静

来源：中国日报网