♪ >> you're watching al jazeera. a reminder of our top stories. the united nations says more than 400,000 people are now suffering famine in ethiopia's tigray region, saying the situation has worsened dramatically and warned of more fighting despite a cease-fire declared by the government. we have more from the u.n. reporter: certainly, i think it highlighted how bad things have got in tigray. we heard from top u.n. officials. we heard from the acting head of the humanitarian part of the u.n., the emergency relief

coordinator. 400,000 people are now living in famine, and they fear that figure is going to grow. we also heard from the top political official of the united nations, with a real warning that -- that there was a potential for swift deterioration in the security situation. even though some councilmembers didn't want this public meeting, they certainly hurt, i think, things that will certainly make them think about the situation going forward. >> the u.s. military has pulled out of afghanistan's bagram airbase. u.s. president joe biden has set a september deadline for full withdrawal and says the pullout is on track. brazilian prosecutors accuse president bolsonaro unfeeling to act on evidence that one of his allies try to embezzle mother

-- embezzle millions of dollars as part of a coronavirus vaccine deal. a major increase in the number of people getting back to work in the u.s. 50,000 jobs were added in june. more than analysts were expected. the u.s. economy has been surging since the start of the year as the country emergence from the pandemic recession. mexico's company says a fire west of the yucatan peninsula has been put out. pipeline that connects to the oil development. the company has launched an investigation into the cause of the fire. those were the headlines. i will be back with more news. next, it is "inside story" on al jazeera. please, do stay with us. ♪

sami: covid-19 vaccines allow the u.s. and europe to reopen for business, but countries in africa lag behind. d the jabs sent to the continent aren't recognized for travel in europe. so will a vaccine curtain end of -- end up dividing rich and poor nations? this is "inside story." ♪ hello, and welcome to the show. i'm sami zeidan. so covid-19 vaccines are vital for controlling the pandemic, as we know. widespread immunization is allowing parts of the world, including the u.s. and europe, to reopen for tourism and trade.

but it's a different story and -- story in developing nations. millions of people across africa are still waiting to receive their first jabs. the who warns the continent is facing an extremely aggressive third wave. the african union's covid-19 envoy has strongly criticized europe for failing to deliver the millions of doses it promised. we will bring in our guests in a moment. first, this report. reporter: marie, a 57-year-old mother of five, has come to this clinic in kinshasa to get her second jab of the astrazeneca vaccine. the democratic republic of congo is suffering from a third surge of coronavirus infections, as are many other parts of africa. >> it's good for us to protect ourselves, as we are experiencing this third wave of covid-19. it is important we are receiving this vaccine, because in doing so, it will also save others. reporter: she is one of the lucky ones. only 1% of people across the continent have been inoculated.

while richer vaccinated countries are reopening their economies, african hospitals are becoming overwhelmed. oxygen supply is running low, and the spreading to rural areas. -- the virus is spreading to rural areas. the man in charge of securing doses for the continent has criticized europe, saying it's failed to deliver a single vaccine from the millions it promised. >> not a single dose, not one vial has left a european factory for africa. okay? when we've got to talk to their -- gone to talk to their manufacturers, they tell us that they are completely maxed out, meeting the needs of europe. reporter: 5.5 million infections have been confirmed among the continent's 1.3 billion people. covax has promised to deliver 700 million doses to africa by december. but so far, just 65 million have actually arrived.

>> rich countries, like the u.k., the g7, they are putting the profit of pharmaceutical companies above public health by not pushing companies to share their technologies, so that others in developing countries can produce the vaccines. so we are under the mercy of pharmaceutical companies. reporter: the head of the africa centers for disease control and prevention says there's been a 23% increase in the number of covid related deaths in the past week. and it warns, unless the continent can secure a regular supply of vaccines, the consequences will be catastrophic. sami: and the african union's warning of global inequality, even after people receive their jabs. most of its doses come from the u.n.-backed covax scheme, which relies on the indian made astrazeneca dose called covishield. that is not recognized by the eu's new vaccine passport for travel.

eight european states have reportedly agreed to accept covishield after pressure from india. but the eu has not approved a russian or chinese made vaccines, either. covax says, this risks dividing the world into two tiers. ♪ let's bring in our guests into the show. we have joining us john nkengasong, director of the africa centres for disease control and prevention. in italy, gloria taliani, professor of infectious diseases at la sapienza university of rome. and in london, max lawson, head of inequality policy at oxfam international. a warm welcome to you all. if i could start with gloria, in italy, so, why is the eu excluding some vaccines, like covishield, which is a variant of astrazeneca, but made in india? >> well, the question is very interesting, because we really

don't know exactly what the reason is. apparently, the declaration of the emaa society, the organization was, the factory, where the vaccine is produced, is not perfectly adequate for production of this kind of vaccine. or at least, it's not been certificated in a proper way. sami: if i could jump in, does that suggest the vaccines are not effective? >> well, this has not been proved. this has not been proved at all. the point is, the institute which produces the vaccine, the covishield, is the most relevant factory for vaccine production over the world.

just remember that 60% of children are vaccinated with vaccines produced by this company. so it seems at least a little bit funny that, in this condition of urgency, the factory has not proved to be capable of producing good vaccines. on the other side, we should test first the efficacy and safety of vaccines. before refusing them. sami: let me take that point to john nkengasong, if the european union has some doubts, some questions about the standards or the certifications of the factory that's manufacturing the indian variant of astrazeneca, is it fair enough that they should hold off for now from putting the covishield vaccine

on the approved list? >> i think we have been extremely surprised by that behavior. the covishield vaccine has been approved as part of the collection of vaccines for covax, the mechanism supported by the who, and the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovation. this vaccine has been paid for by the european taxpayers' money. we all know that the who has given the emergency use authorization for this vaccine. so i remain completely at a loss as to why such a behavior. we have always maintained that the only way that we will defeat this pandemic is to use science to drive our policies and actions. i really call on the european union to reverse that decision

almost immediately, because it is creating a lot of harm to the people that have received the vaccine in africa and in the global south. sami: tell us more about that harm, john. what does that mean for people? >> that means it will just deliver anxiety. once that decision was made, i can tell you many have called me. many people in the communities have reached out to me, and they expressed a lot of anxiety. with respect to the inability to travel to europe, for several reasons. we are a highly interconnected world, and europe and africa, the movement across the two continents is extremely important. and because of that, people cannot move to europe. it creates harm, both social and economic harm to the populations. i think that is something that we strongly encourage the europeans to look at, that decision. and it also affects the ability for the confidence that people are investing in the vaccines

that are available. each time we behave that way, it creates and erodes a lot of confidence in the vaccine rollout programs. sami: let me bring max into the discussion. max, the world was worried or concerned with a divide emerging between the have's and the have not's, when it comes to vaccines. is there now a new divide emerging, even between those who have had vaccines? those in the vaccinated light, or something like that? >> oh, it seems. i think there is a long history, sadly, in this covid responsive world. i think we should call it what it is. it is a structural racism. it is the european north looking after themselves. and this implicit sense that brown people in the global south are incapable of making vaccines. when in fact, when covid hit, 60% of the world's vaccines are made in india. we have competent, really world-class producers in

developing countries all over the world. and these are the same producers who are waiting for the vaccine recipes. who are being held under lock and key by pfizer, moderna, biontech. s-- so sadly, the europeans are looking after themselves once again. so yes, we may have this divide over vaccine passports. but it's a much more substantial thing we have here. sami: let me play devil's advocate and jump in and say, from the eu perspective, i'm sure they would argue, this is not about different parts of the world or races, this is simply about science, and if certain factories are not up to standard, why should the european union rush in to certify them? >> these factories, the institute has been fully approved by the who, by covax. it is absolutely nothing case. -- not the case. it is completely unheard of, that they european union should decide that they have somehow a higher standard. i think this is politically driven.

i think it is because it's seen as the british vaccine, they don't like it. i think there's politics and all of this. -- in all of this. and i think there is racism in there, too. i think the europeans have a very poor record on this. look at chancellor merkel. she is blocking moves at the wto to share the vaccine recipes. biontech is a german firm. they have one of the most successful vaccines, together with pfizer. they have sold virtually no vaccines in the developing world. virtually none for africa. that is appalling. that is a crime of historical proportions. when you look at the third wave sweeping through countries like uganda, it is absolutely disgusting, to be honest, that you see the europeans looking after themselves once again -- it just makes me really, really angry. and i think they should look to themselves, and they should share the vaccine recipes as fast as possible, and allow developing countries to make themselves safe. sami: let me take a point back to gloria. this whole issue begs the question about how much policy

coordination there is in the eu right now. because, as max pointed out, you have a situation on the one hand where the eu is it saying, we are not sure about this vaccination, and yet, the same eu has been funding the covax program, the u.n.'s who covax program, which funds getting this vaccination out to the rest of the world, that they are now saying they are not sure about. how much coordination is there between the eu and the who on these kind of issues? how much coordination is there between eu countries themselves? some of the eu nations have approved the same covishield, but the eu as a whole is saying they are not sure about it. >> given that it is totally legitimate for each regulatory authority to independently carry out the approval process for drugs and vaccines, whatsoever, apparently, at the moment, we

have a problem of coordination. because the european union states that the vaccine should not be used and recognized. but at the same time, others, germany, slovenia, spain, and apparently switzerland and iceland approved covishield as a proper and effective and safe vaccine. therefore, in a time, in a moment in which we should have a unique way to face a pandemic emergency, apparently, there is large space for each country, for different countries to behave in a different way, which is not something helpful to properly manage the emergency, to properly manage the urgency

of covid, and the largest possible part of human beings with a good vaccine. sami: john, i want to come back to you on a point you mentioned about the harm this could do economically, as well. what will that mean for the developing world, if a kind of new vaccine -- i don't want to sound overdramatic -- but iron curtain kind of thing is being drawn now around certain regions? what does that mean for those regions economically? >> i think it means economic devastation for the regions. but it also means we are going to be in this pandemic for a long haul. not just the regions facing restrictions, but globally. it has to be very clear to all of us that we have to come out from this together, or we will remain in this forever. regardless of whether you're vaccinated or not. so i think that the consequences, the economic consequences, the social consequences, and health consequences of this kind of

behavior is unmanageable, and you cannot actually win the battle that we are in against this pandemic with such behaviors. sami: gloria, just to clarify, what does the eu approve list mean? let's say, if somebody in africa has been vaccinated with covishield and wants to go to an eu country, but on a national level, they say yes, we will recognize covishield, but the eu level says we don't recognize it. where does that leave people? >> well, probably the most important consequence of this acceptance of covishield by some of the countries of the european union is that people who are vaccinated with covishield are exempted and recognized as protected, and they can move from a country to another without any problem. sami: so gloria, does that mean

that basically, the eu's directive and approved list is meaningless? if at the end of the day, it comes down to, you've got to look at what the national government health authorities say. what's the point of any approved list then? >> apparently, it works like that. and it is something that should not have happened. because we have a european union to make decisions for all of us. and the decisions, however, should be shared at a level at which reasonable consequences are accepted by other countries, from other parts, involved in the union. and if any country feels the need of taking a position which is different from the position of the european union, it is a failure of the european union itself. sami: max, it's not just an issue -- we are focusing a lot

on covishield, for obvious reasons, since it's the one that's been the most highly this -- most highly distributed by the covax program, but there's also the question of the russian vaccines and chinese vaccines, they are not on the eu list. what does that mean for the world? and the idea of getting the world back to where it was before covid. the idea of travel bubbles, the idea of travel corridors, trade corridors are going to be here for the foreseeable future, this is not something is going to end anytime soon with vaccines getting out. >> i think there's two things. i would distinguish between -- there are more than one chinese vaccine, then the russian one. the chinese vaccines, sinovac and sinopharm, have both been approved by the who for use now. and the russian vaccine, as i understand, has not. -- understand it, has not. if we are looking to the world health organization and their

stringent assessment of these vaccines, then that should be the bottom line. that's the bottom line for covax. sami: it maybe should be that way, but that wasn't enough for covishield, was it? the who's approved that, yet the eu hasn't. so it seems like what happens in reality is different than what the who says. >> absolutely. and i think we could see more of that in the future. if they will do that for astrazeneca, you can see politics very much coming into play for the chinese vaccines, as well. so i would definitely agree on that. but i think we need to focus on the key issue. the vast majority of developing countries do not have enough of any vaccine at this point. and that is the key, key issue. yes, it's problematic for travel, if you haven't been vaccinated with another vaccine, but it's far more problematic if you're in uganda at the moment, where 4000 people out of a 45 -- out of 45 million have had two doses. it's absolutely terrible, the hoarding of vaccines going on by europe.

and i think this latest episode of saying that covishield isn't quite right, it is, for my mind, about defending european industries, this sense that only safe vaccines can be made in europe and america. we have seen this on the way through. -- all the way through. and we need to have a situation where we can respect the qualified vaccine manufactures all over the world and share the recipes with them as fast as possible. and that is simply not happening. and the u.s. has said that they are open to waiving patents on vaccines, and the main blocker is the eu. and the eu, led by angela merkel. so i think they really are problematic, and i think history will frown on the eu terribly for what's happened in the last 6-9 months, and the fact that they are standing by and seeing so few people vaccinated in the developing world. sami: maybe we will bring gloria in for a quick comment on that point.

why has europe been so slow to get out vaccines to africa? we heard from the africa union's -- african union's special envoy on covid-19, saying not one dose, not one dose, he says, has left europe for africa. >> again, this is a problem of the meaning, the deep meaning of the european union. because, also in this context, some countries were more prone to allow the sending of vaccines to the african countries. other countries, in the european union, were totally against this policy. in the european union, we should decide all together a unique

path what we should do in order to obtain a safe and most protected world, outside europe. and there's also another reason, a very important reason why we should offer vaccine coverage also outside of european countries. because, in a country where there is large spread of the virus and a partial coverage of vaccines, the development, the appearance of resistant strains of the virus are much more probable. and so, we have a problem altogether again. sami: john, let me put the question this way. i will be a little bit of a devil's advocate on behalf of the eu. is it not understandable, if not far from ideal, but isn't it understandable that in a time of crisis, nations simply prioritize their own populations first? they want to make sure their populations get vaccinated first before they send out vaccines to others. it's not a huge surprise, is it, john?

>> it's not a huge surprise, but it is not the wisdom that would enable us to win the war against a serious pandemic, like the one we are dealing with. we know what to do. we have the solutions in our hands. but unfortunately, we are not applying ourselves in a way that we can come out of this collectively. of what use is it for europe to be fully vaccinated and africa is not vaccinated and continues to get variants that emerge that would challenge the vaccines that have been used in europe? we have seen the variant that emerged out of south africa quickly undermined the vaccines that were being used. i think it is just common wisdom that, yes, you should protect your people, but understand what we are dealing with, the dimension of what we are dealing with is global, so we have to look at domestic approaches, but also look at a global approach to win the battle against this pandemic. sami: i think we've got a quick

minute for a final thought from max. what does this two-tier vaccination world mean for recovery, for global growth, for the rosy projections and expectations that the world is going to grow again economically? >> i think it is disastrous for economic growth. i think the key point is, no one blames european nations for wanting to vaccinate their own populations. what i blame them for is protect -- is protecting the monopolies in the profits of their own pharma companies and not allowing the successful vaccines to be made all over the developing world. that is absolutely criminal. we could vaccinate europe, and we could vaccinate africa, it doesn't have to be a trade-off. and we desperately need to, to see the recovery can stop -- and stop millions of people from dying. share the recipes now, europe, and stop blocking and putting profits ahead of people. sami: all right. maybe that humanitarian call is a good point to end on. let's hope the world finds a way to work together to get over this. for now, let's thank our guests

very much for their participation, john nkengasong, gloria taliani, and max lawson. and thank you, too, for watching. you can watch the show again by visiting our website, aljazeera.com. for further discussion, head over to our facebook page, facebook.com/ajinsidestory. you can also join the conversation on twitter. our handle is @ajinsidestory. from me, sami zeidan, and the whole team here, for now, it's goodbye. ♪ ñ?ñrç rcrcrcrcrcrcrcrcrcrcrcrcr■ ♪

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