Campaigners beam ‘drop the patents’ onto pharma lobby HQ on eve of pandemic anniversary
Date: 11 March 2021
‘Drop the patents. End vaccine apartheid’ beamed onto UK pharma lobby head office as figures including Bernie Sanders and Graça Machel, Nelson Mandela’s widow, demand fairer access to vaccines
Head of UNAIDs compares pharma’s covid-response to AIDs crisis
UK risks complicity in “historic failure” that could cost countless more lives if it fails to act, campaigners warn
Pharmaceutical companies are under fresh pressure to unlock vaccines for low and middle income countries, as the world marks one year from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of the coronavirus pandemic.
Africa is poised to surpass 4 million COVID-19 infections this week since the continent’s first confirmed case in February 2020. The year-long battle against the virus, which has also claimed over 106 000 lives, is now receiving a crucial boost with the arrival of vaccines through the COVAX Facility – a multi-partner vaccine procurement platform.
Following a second wave which peaked at much higher numbers than Africa’s first surge, new case numbers declined for five weeks, and then plateaued during the past three weeks at around 70 000 cases per week. In the last week, there has been a slight uptick in new cases and an upward trend in 12 countries, including in Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Cameroon.
COVID-19 cases in Africa to top 4 million, vaccine rollout underway africanews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from africanews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
To get ready to take part in the People’s Vaccine Day of Action, join our online rally on
10 March at 13:30 Washington / 18:30 London / 19:30 Brussels / 21:30 Nairobi to find out more.
Our best chance of ending this pandemic is to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to Covid-19 vaccines. But pharmaceutical monopolies are restricting supply and rich governments have hoarded doses, leaving countries in the global south waiting up to 2023 for widespread vaccination. This will lead to even more unnecessary loss of lives and allow the virus to spread and mutate, which will threaten everyone. No one is safe until everyone is safe
The Upper East Regional branch of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has entreated its members across health facilities in the Region to protect themselves from hospital acquired infections, especially COVID-19.
The Association through its Regional Chairman, Mr Thomas Lambon, said leadership of the GRNMA appreciated the sacrifices nurses and midwives across the country made to ensure Ghana overcame the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chairman gave the advice when he addressed members of the Association in Sandema Hospital at a brief ceremony to present a cheque of GH¢10,000.00 to Mr Raphael Azungbiik, a member of the GRNMA and staff of the hospital who suffered from a health condition.