Vaccine disparities are getting attention as the G20 meets in Rome later this week. Top representatives of UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have urged the heads of these wealthy G20 countries to meet their commitments from the G7 meeting months before “where are the doses.”
Two open letters addressed to G20 leaders hold some hard data on existing inequalities.
“For every 100 people in high-income countries, 133 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered, while in low-income countries, only 4 doses per 100 people have been administered,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in an open letter. , Flippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Antonio Vittorino, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), call for vaccines to be accessible for migrants, refugees and other displaced people.
Speaking for the millions struggling to survive the pandemic away from home, he said, “Some have been forced to flee war, conflict, persecution and human rights violations. Others are moving to escape the consequences of socioeconomic hardship or climate change.”
The letter also comes ahead of the COP26 (Conference of Parties) meeting to be held in Glasgow (Scotland) next week, where the climate is on the agenda.
promises fall short
Another open letter addressed to G20 leaders said, when the world’s wealthiest countries met at the G7 summit in June, they collectively provided one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. declare. The letter said that the pharmaceutical companies have made almost the same promise.
Although many countries still did not have enough vaccines for their health workers, the letter said, the world is asking, “Where are the doses?”.
The letter states that of the nearly seven billion supplements administered globally, only 3 percent of people in low-income countries consume it. The WHO-backed COVAX, which is designed to help support global access to COVID vaccines, is promised 1.3 billion doses for low-income countries, “yet only 150 million – 11.5 percent – will be given.” Only has been able to ship. Where are the rest?, the letter said, adding, “Promises are not translating into vaccines reaching the people who need them.”
Without any words, the letter said, “These are public vaccines. Many of the people you represent have paid for research and development of these vaccines.” The global target is to vaccinate 40 percent of all countries by the end of 2021 and 70 percent by the middle of next year. “The decisions made this weekend can make or break those goals.”
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The letter said pharmaceutical companies should “publicly close the gap” by urging countries to “close the 550 million dosage gap” by expediting commitments and making new commitments, removing export restrictions and swapping doses. To higher transparency standards including shared monthly output”. Estimation and delivery schedules to help countries better plan for receiving and sharing doses.”
The letter called for support for technology sharing and the exemption of intellectual property during the pandemic – a proposal made by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization last October. The second letter was from the WHO chief and heads of organizations including Save the Children International, Gavi and UNAIDS, in addition to Harry and Meghan from the UK.
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