Only 10 percent of people in almost 70 poor countries will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine next year if governments and pharmaceutical companies fail to take measures aimed at ensuring the production of a sufficient number of doses, a prominent rights group said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2020) Only 10 percent of people in almost 70 poor countries will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine next year if governments and pharmaceutical companies fail to take measures aimed at ensuring the production of a sufficient number of doses, a prominent rights group said on Wednesday.
Concerns about poor countries missing out on COVID-19 vaccines arose after international organizations, including Amnesty International, Frontline AIDS, Global Justice Now and Oxfam, which are part of The People's Vaccine Alliance, analyzed data collected by Airfinity contracts reached so far by vaccine producers with countries around the world on the purchases of the eight leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
"Nearly 70 poor countries will only be able to vaccinate one in ten people against COVID-19 next year unless urgent action is taken by governments and the pharmaceutical industry to make sure enough doses are produced," Amnesty International said in a press release.
Meanwhile, rich countries representing only 14 percent of the world population have already secured enough doses � 53 percent of all the leading vaccines � to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021.
"The People's Vaccine Alliance is calling on all pharmaceutical corporations working on COVID-19 vaccines to openly share their technology and intellectual property through the World Health Organization COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, so that billions more doses can be manufactured and safe and effective vaccines can be available to all who need them," the press release added.
The alliance also urged governments to take measures to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are made a global public good that will be free of charge and fairly distributed based on need. In particular, the international community can start with supporting the proposal of South Africa and India to the World Trade Organization Council to abandon intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments until everyone is protected.
