The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will take part in the experiments and tests that are going to be conducted for the purposes of finding corona virus vaccine and cure. The head of the DRC Covid-19 taskforce Jean-Jacques Muyembe confirmed the news.
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“DRC has been chosen by the countries producing the medicing to conduct the tests” said the head of the national biological institute, Jean-Jacques Muyembe.
“The vaccine will be produced in the United States, or in Canada, or in China. We’re candidates for doing the testing here,” Muyembe told a news conference.
The news did not sit well with locals and fellow Africans as they feel the people of DRC will be used as guinea pigs
The clinical trials are expected to begin in July or August this year.
Muyembe fears Africa could be hit the worst by the novel coronavirus and the only way to stop infections in Africa is to find a vaccine.
“At some point, the virus will be uncontrollable. The only way to control it will be a vaccine, just like Ebola. It was a vaccine that helped us end the Ebola epidemic,” the virologist said.
The admittance of the DRC government to have its citizens participate in the clinical trials comes as two French doctors faced a backlash for discussing the possibility of using Africans for coronavirus clinical trials because of their lack of protective clothing and a functioning health care delivery system. The doctors even compared Africans to prostitutes because of their lack off protection.
Former soccer players of African descent such as Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o critisized the French doctors for being racist.