Rich countries are hoarding coronavirus vaccines, leaving poorer nations continuing to struggle with their outbreaks, campaigners warn
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- Campaigners are warning that rich countries are hoarding COVID-19 vaccines, while poorer nations are struggling to secure doses for their populations.
- People's Vaccine Alliance, a network made up of charities like Amnesty International, said nearly 70 countries will only be able to vaccine one in 10 people, but the richest countries can vaccinate their populations nearly times over.
- It said that vaccine makers need to share their technology to ensure billions of people don't miss a vaccine.
- Many countries around the world have preordered vaccine doses as major vaccine makers including AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer reported positive results in their final stages of testing.
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Rich countries are hoarding doses of coronavirus vaccines, leaving poorer nations to struggle with protecting their populations, campaigners have warned.
The People's Vaccine Alliance, a network made up of charities like Amnesty International and Oxfam, said that nearly 70 countries will only be able to vaccine one in 10 of their people, while the world's richest countries "have enough to vaccinate their entire populations nearly 3 TIMES OVER."
Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty International's head of economic and social justice, said: "The hoarding of vaccines actively undermines global efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere can be protected from COVID-19," according to Sky News.
He continued: "Rich countries have clear human rights obligations not only to refrain from actions that could harm access to vaccines elsewhere but also to cooperate and provide assistance to countries that need it."
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Anna Marriott, Oxfam's health policy manager, also said: "No one should be blocked from getting a life-saving vaccine because of the country they live in or the amount of money in their pocket.
"But unless something changes dramatically, billions of people around the world will not receive a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 for years to come."
Many countries around the world have preordered vaccine doses, something that experts have previously warned would mean low-income countries could have to wait years before they could get enough vaccines for most of their populations by 2024.
According to The Guardian, wealthy countries that have 14% of the world's population have ordered 53% of the most promising vaccines.
The UK started vaccinating people on Tuesday.
The People's Vaccine Alliance said it was "great" that the vaccination - which used the shot produced by Pfizer and BioNTech - took place, adding: "But all vaccine producers MUST share their science, technology and know-how NOW, otherwise billions could miss out. We need a #PeoplesVaccine, not a profit vaccine."
In the US, a panel of Food and Drug Administration advisors is scheduled to meet on Thursday to assess Pfizer's vaccine. It could then be authorized for use within 24 hours.
Hans Pennink/AP
There are already some programs in place to try to ensure more equal access to vaccines.
Johnson & Johnson and said it would not make a profit through selling its vaccine to poorer nations, and AstraZeneca said it would make no profit from its vaccine.
But the campaigners have said that these companies' promises are not enough to vaccinate the global population, according to the BBC.
A World Health Organization effort to ensure global vaccine access, named Covax, is also underway, though the People's Vaccine Alliance said this also isn't sufficient, according to the BBC.
China has said that any vaccine it makes would be a global public good. One of its vaccine candidates, produced by Sinopharm, was this week found to be 86% effective in a Phase 3 trial held in the United Arab Emirates.
Other groups have also called for vaccine makers to work with countries to ensure they get the vaccines at cost.
Dr. Sidney Wong, Executive Co-Director of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders' Access Campaign, said on Tuesday: "Right now, we're in a situation where a lion's share of the limited number of first doses have already been snatched up by a handful of countries like the US and UK, as well as the EU, leaving very little for other countries in the short term.
"What we really want to see is a rapid expansion of the overall global supply, so there are more vaccines to go around and doses can be allocated according to WHO's public health criteria, not a country's ability to pay."
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