Wealthy nations must stop hoarding Covid vaccines and share them with poorer countries, a body representing the world s jab makers said today.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations called for immediate action to address the vaccine apartheid that has emerged.
It warned a stepping up of responsible dose sharing was the only way to end the global pandemic and prevent dangerous new variants from cropping up.
The body – which represents AstraZeneca and Pfizer – said manufacturers were on track to have produce 11billion doses by the end of this month, enough to fully vaccinate the world s adult population. Critically, however, Covid vaccines currently are not equally reaching all priority populations worldwide, the IFPMA added in a statement.
April 14, 2021
Preface
It is in the United States’ strategic interests to ensure that the world mobilizes effectively to end the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. A proactive U.S. role is essential to secure the gains underway in the United States and ensure Americans’ health, safety, and prosperity into the future. Helping to secure the future of lower- and middle-income countries is also simply the right thing to do, on humanitarian, economic, and security grounds.
Today, the United States is quickly approaching a moment of genuine promise, when exceptionally effective vaccines, accelerated distribution at home, and an enlarged American vaccine industrial base open the door for the Biden administration to bring American leadership to urgent global vaccine challenges. The United States’ health, economic, and national security interests argue for seizing this moment, beginning with presidential leadership to explain the stakes to Americans still legitimately worried about the epidemic at
Global Memo by Stewart Patrick, CFR
Dec 23, 2020 Global Memos are briefs by the Council of Councils that gather opinions from global experts on major international developments.
REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng
Summit diplomacy was a prominent casualty of COVID-19 during 2020. The pandemic forced the postponement of many high-level gatherings and the shift of others, like the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, to online platforms. Multilateralism-by-Zoom will continue into 2021, as the world rolls out novel coronavirus vaccines. Still, the coming year will be a critical one for international cooperation, even if the calendar remains fluid. Here are ten major summits that will test the mettle of President-Elect Joe Biden, as he executes a 180-degree turn from “America First” and tries to translate his multilateral rhetoric into concrete steps to address real-world problems.