This archive report was first published on 19 August 2021.
Published on August 19, 2021, a report by The New York Times revealed that millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses produced in South Africa were secretly exported to Europe.
According to the report, at least 32 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were shipped to Europe, leaving South Africa with only about two million doses administered so far.
The vaccine was a crucial element in South Africa's vaccine plan, and the African Union's similar plan. However, the delay in delivery was partly due to contamination problems at a J&J factory in Baltimore, which led to a suspension of exports of key ingredients to other factories worldwide.
Health activists were outraged to discover that large numbers of vaccines from a J&J factory in South Africa have been secretly exported to European governments, beginning as early as April and continuing even today.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called it
