On the eve of the world
marking one year since the coronavirus outbreak was
officially declared
a pandemic, humanitarians and global justice campaigners are
calling out rich countries for hoarding vaccines including
with a new analysis revealing that excess doses secured by
the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union could
inoculate all adults in 20 nations facing the worst
humanitarian crises.
The U.S., U.K., and E.U. have
each pre-purchased enough approved Covid-19 doses to
vaccinate their populations more than twice over, according
to the International Rescue Committee. These excess
doses could vaccinate people aged 16 and over of all 20 of
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ST. CATHARINES, ON, March 11, 2021 /CNW/ - Thanks to transformative vaccine rollouts, the world is turning a COVID-19 corner but not every country is on that path.
Recent weeks have been encouraging on the vaccine front for Canadians and others in developed countries. Earlier this month, Canada announced that a COVID-19 vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is the first single-dose vaccine to receive approval for use in Canada. It is the fourth to be approved, as needles in arms continue.
Despite the optimism, there remains a missing space for people in low-income nations who desperately need these vaccines and who may wait too long. As the World Health Organization (WHO) noted in a recent media conference, the global vaccine stocks remain critically short of supply at this time.
By Nita BhallaNAIROBI, March 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Charities in Africa slammed rich nations on Thursday for blocking efforts to waive patents for COVID-19 vaccines, saying this would prolong the pandemic for years in poorer nations and push millions across the continent deeper into poverty.More than 40 charities, including Amnesty International and Christian Aid, said Wednesday's move by Western nations to prevent generic or other manufacturers making more vaccines in poorer nations was "an affront on people's right to healthcare."
A diplomatic row might be brewing between South Africa and the USA, after pharmaceutical giants asked Joe Biden to intervene on a vaccine patent debate.
Charities in Africa slammed rich nations on Thursday for blocking efforts to waive patents for Covid-19 vaccines, saying this would prolong the pandemic for years in poorer nations and push millions across the continent deeper into poverty.
A medical worker at the Jabra Hospital for Emergency and Injuries in Sudan s capital Khartoum receives a vaccine.
Photo: AFP
More than 40 charities, including Amnesty International and Christian Aid, said Wednesday s move by Western nations to prevent generic or other manufacturers making more vaccines in poorer nations was an affront on people s right to healthcare .
Oxfam International s Africa director Peter Kamalingin said sub-Saharan Africa - 14 percent of the global population - had received only 0.2 percent of 300 million vaccine doses administered worldwide.