Kenyans Slam BBC Over Controversial COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Comments

It seems there is no end to the number of medical professionals from the West wanting to make Africa the testing ground for the COVID-19 vaccine. Recently, a medical correspondent for the BBC suggested that should the vaccine trial not achieve the "expected results" in the UK, Kenya would be the next option. Naturally, the comments have caused considerable backlash among Kenyans on social media.

Speaking on the BBC's World Service, Fergus Walsh said, "We could be careful not to over promise because we are desperate for this vaccine to work but the team in Oxford have a really strong record going back 30 years." Walsh went on to add that, "They have developed successful prototype vaccines against another type of coronavirus, MERS...which has done well in clinical trials, they've also developed vaccines against plague, malaria (now) if they don't get early quick results from the UK they are considering a trial in Kenya where the epidemic of the coronavirus will be on the rise."

The Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, which is involved in ongoing vaccine trials, has not responded to Walsh's comments or the subsequent public outcry.

Just last month, two French doctors caused outrage when they suggested on national television that the COVID-19 vaccine trials be carried out on Africans "a bit like as it is done elsewhere for some studies on AIDS."

While the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases on the African continent stands at 27 732 with at least 1298 reported deaths, the West is struggling to get a handle on their numbers. The US has close to 900 000 cases and a little over 50 000 deaths while the UK has surpassed 130 000 cases with over 18 000 deaths.

Here are some of the reactions from Kenyans on social media below: