I'm sorry: French doctor apologises for suggesting COVID-19 vaccine be tested in Africa

I'm sorry: French doctor apologises for suggesting COVID-19 vaccine be tested in Africa

- The French doctor, Jean-Paul Mira, had said Africa should be used as a testing ground for COVID-19 treatment

- He apologised for his remarks and said he made them clumsily during the TV interview on Wednesday, April 1

- Bungoma senator Moses Wetangula was among leaders who castigated Mira for his remarks and said Africans were not Guinea pigs

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A French doctor who became a subject of online ridicule for suggesting COVID-19 treatment be tested in Africa has apologised for his unsettling remarks.

Jean-Paul Mira, through his employer, Paris network of hospitals sought forgiveness for his disdainful sentiments against the African continent.

READ ALSO: Twitter showers praises on Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on his 38th birthday

I am sorry: French doctor apologises for suggesting COVID-19 treatment be tested in Africa
File photo: The French doctor had said Africa should be the testing ground for coronavirus treatment. Photo: UGC.
Source: UGC

According to US News, Mira said he was sorry to those who were hurt, shocked and felt insulted by his comments, which he made on a TV interview on Wednesday, April 1.

"I want to present all my apologies to those who were hurt, shocked and felt insulted by the remarks that I clumsily expressed on LCI this week," he said.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: 925 people in mandatory quarantine in Accra to be discharged after testing negative

I am sorry: French doctor apologises for suggesting COVID-19 treatment be tested in Africa
File photo. The medic apologised for his disdainful remarks against the African continent. Photo: New York Times.
Source: UGC

Mira had said the BCG vaccine which is under trial for coronavirus treatment in various countries should be tested in Africa since, according to him, there were no masks, treatment or intensive care in the continent.

He was blasted for the racially-laced words. Bungoma senator Moses Wetang'ula was among African leaders who lashed out at the medic for his suggestion.

In a strongly-worded statement, the FORD Kenya party leader called on African leaders to reject any attempt to use African people as "Guinea pigs".

"The epicentre of COVID-19(Coronavirus ) is China, Italy, Spain, France, US. Clinical trials on its possible cure must start there and not in any African country.
African leaders must resist any attempt to use our people as Guinea pigs. Resist," he tweeted.

People could not understand why Africa, which has lower COVID-19 cases and deaths than European countries was thought to be the best 'lab rat'.

Europe, on the other hand, is the virus' epicentre with Italy leading with more than 14,000 deaths and second-highest number of infections.

In other news, the Ghana Police Service has released nine trending videos of alleged clashes that happened between Ghanaian locals and Police & Army officers that are simply untrue.

Following a partial lockdown that was imposed by president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, there have been a number of conflicts between locals and armed officers assigned to enforce the lockdown.

Several videos surfaced on social media showing that the military and police officers mercilessly brutalized many Ghanaians but both the police and military forces debunked the reports, calling most of them fake.

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