A vaccine for the 99%
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 03 December 2020 03:06
- Written by editor
Governments around the world are about to vote on a game-changing plan that would make COVID vaccines and treatments accessible to everyone.
Canada could be the decisive vote -- let's call on the government to put public health over private profits!
A,
A vaccine is the only way out of this pandemic -- and it has to be accessible to everyone. But right now, pharma companies like Pfizer are charging through the roof for their vaccine, leaving millions of people priced out.
There is a glimmer of hope. India and South Africa’s governments have put forward a game-changing plan at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that would allow countries to make their own cheaper versions of COVID vaccines and treatments. And next week, governments will vote on it.
Wealthy countries with powerful pharma lobbies are trying to scrap the plan. But Canada, much like India and South Africa, isn’t in the pocket of the pharma industry, and needs to back a... people’s vaccine, not COVID vaccines that put Big Pharma profits over lives!
Even if everyone could afford to pay for a vaccine, one company alone will never be able to make billions of doses of a vaccine to go around. Pharma companies stand to make a fortune in these licensing deals - but if countries can make their own cheaper versions, we can get life-saving treatments to those that need it, fast -- saving millions of lives on the way.
This plan is our best chance of making sure everyone can access a vaccine, not just those in countries rich enough to afford it. And the sooner every country has a vaccine, the faster we can end this global pandemic.
In this moment, we need to come together as a global community to soothe the suffering of millions, not turn the COVID-crisis into a money spinner for Big Pharma.
Thanks for all that you do,
Angus, Vicky, Nick, and the team at SumOfUs
More information:
India and South Africa proposal for WTO waiver from IP protections for COVID-19-related medical technologies , Doctors Without Borders, Nov. 18th, 2020
Trudeau's vaccine hypocrisy harmful to poorer countries, Ottawa Citizen, Nov. 27nd, 2020
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