Commentary: Ethnocentric Considerations in the Allocation of Vaccines in Africa

This paper suggests that, just as the world community is concerned with ‘vaccine nationalism’ in the acquisition and distribution of vaccines, it should also be concerned with ‘vaccine tribalism’ in the respective African nations. This call is made because, African nations do not have impressive records of ethical distribution and apportionment of scarce resources, be it the delivery of healthcare services, medical doctors, or the national wealth, jobs, and the siting of national projects. Ethnocentric considerations, cronyism, big-man-ism, power, often trump ethical values of beneficence, non-malfeasance, equity, and fairness.