December 1, 2021
South Africa denied Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson from delivering
additional vaccines. A day later, on November 25, the omicron variant was detected in the country. Before the new variant was detected, South Africa claimed it had vaccinated 35% of the population, but their stockpile was building due to vaccine hesitancy. However, the African Union had planned to buy 220 million doses from Johnson & Johnson through Aspen Pharmacare. South Africa had also promised to purchase large quantities from Pfizer. A representative from Pfizer said, “We remain adaptable to individual country’s vaccine requirements whilst continuing to meet our quarterly commitments as per the South Africa supply agreement.”
Travel bans were immediately placed on South Africa and surrounding countries with lower vaccination rates. The variant has since been detected in Belgium, Israel, Germany, Canada, Italy, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. However, none of those nations faced a travel ban. The South African government released a statement saying that they are being
“punished”: