South Africa is a test country for corona vaccines, but its own population is waiting for injection

South Africa plays a major role in the final clinical phase of several corona vaccines. Three corona vaccines still under development are being tested on subjects in the country, but when will the rest of the population be pricked? There is no start date, while some Western countries have already started.

South Africans are waiting outside on plastic chairs at a small clinic in the township of Philippi in Cape Town. They had been injected 29 days earlier with the Janssen vaccine, which pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson is developing at subsidiary Janssen in Leiden, or with a placebo – an injection without active ingredients. This is their first check.

One of the test subjects is Sinaya Songelwa in his twenties. He lifts an orange plastic chair with him from room to room. This is mandatory, so that not everyone sits in the same chair in view of the risk of contamination. Songelwa’s temperature is checked in one room and blood is taken in the next room to be tested for antibodies.

Second wave

South Africa is in the middle of the second wave. The country with a population of just under 58 million now has more than 26,500 corona deaths. They hope that the Janssen vaccine will make it to the finish line. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not ideal for poor countries. It is a logistical nightmare that they have to be kept under extremely low temperatures.

The Janssen vaccine has potentially major advantages, especially for developing countries: it is being investigated whether one injection provides immunity, the vaccine is cheaper and above all: it can be kept for three months in the refrigerator. The outcome of the test is therefore personally important to them.

“I participate because I want to help not only South Africa, but the whole world,” says Songelwa. “I heard the call on the news and thought ‘why not?’.” Songelwa is unemployed. The fact that he receives around 20 euros per visit also helps. “But that was not the main reason.” He already knows what he will buy today with the voucher he will receive: six kilos of chicken for his mother, because her refrigerator is empty.

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