Vaccine apartheid

Majority Of US Population Supports Patent Waiver For COVID-19 Vaccine

April 17, 2021 People's Dispatch. Create! COVID-19, Patents, Vaccine apartheid, Vaccines

According to a new survey, more than 60% of US voters across party lines would support president Joe Biden endorsing the demand of a patent rights waiver for COVID-19 vaccines raised by over 100 countries at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The survey conducted by Data for Progress and the Progressive International and published on the latter’s website shows that only 28% of all voters in the US oppose the move. The survey indicates that the overwhelming majority of Democrats – over 72% – support the move which can reduce the cost of vaccine production and increase its reach to people in poor and developing countries across the globe. Around 50% of the registered Republicans also support the move.

Why China’s Vaccine Internationalism Matters

April 10, 2021 the Qiao Collective. Create! China, COVID-19, International Solidarity, Vaccine apartheid

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called it “the biggest moral test” facing the world today. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom warned of a “catastrophic moral failure” whose price would be paid with the lives of those in the world’s poorest countries. Such cautionings of inequitable global vaccine distribution have been shunted to the margins; instead, optimistic chatter of “returning to normal” is circulating once again as Global North citizens line up for their long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine. But normal, as ever, is relative: public health advocates warn that some countries may not be able to even begin their vaccination campaigns until 2024. Vaccine apartheid is here, and it is revealing once more the ways our world continues to be structured by the geopolitical binaries of colonialism, capitalism, and racism.

Epidemiologist Warns That A Fourth COVID-19 Surge Is Under Way

April 5, 2021 Benjamin Mateus, WSWS. Educate! COVID-19, Pandemic, United States, Vaccine apartheid

Leading US epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minneapolis, gave a stark warning of a devastating new stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in interviews Sunday on two national television networks. Dr. Osterholm explained the context and real dangers hinted at in the statement by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when she declared last Monday that she was afraid and felt a sense of “impending doom” about the pandemic. On Sunday, speaking with host Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press,” Osterholm said, “At this time, we are in a category five hurricane status with regard to the rest of the world.

The Vaccine Must Be A Common Good For Humanity

April 3, 2021 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Create! COVID-19, Pandemic, Public Health, Vaccine apartheid

Nearly three million people have reportedly been killed by the novel coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2) and upwards of 128 million people have been infected by the virus, many with long-lasting health repercussions. Thus far, roughly 1.5% of the world’s population of 7.7 billion have been vaccinated, but 80% of them are from only ten countries. In February, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research warned about the ‘medical apartheid’ that has shaped the vaccine roll-out. Since 1950, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has celebrated Global Health Day on 7 April. Each year, the WHO choses a different theme for the day, with last year’s being ‘Support Nurses and Midwives’. This year, the theme is ‘Building a fairer, healthier world’, which goes to the heart of medical apartheid.

Vaccine Nationalism Is Putting World Health At Risk

April 3, 2021 Laura Lopez Gonzalez, Tribune Magazine. Educate! COVID-19, Global South, Pandemic, Vaccine apartheid

It’s 9:21pm, and the phones of journalists across South Africa are buzzing. The health department has just released the country’s daily Covid-19 statistics in a WhatsApp message. ‘We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased.’ The single line has been repeated in every statement, every night, for the last year. Officially, 52,846 people in the country of almost 59 million have died of Covid-19 since the epidemic began in March. But experts warn that the true death toll could be in the hundreds of thousands. Today, just 0.4 percent of South Africans have been vaccinated against the virus. In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, almost half the adult population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine – making it one of the most vaccinated countries in the world.

Organizations Petition High Court Of Justice Demanding Vaccines For Palestinians

March 27, 2021 M. Dennis Paul, Popular Resistance. Resist! COVID-19, Israel, Palestinians, Vaccine apartheid

Six Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations petitioned the High Court of Justice on Thursday demanding that Israel take immediate steps to ensure regular supply of vaccines to the Palestinian population under its occupation, control and influence, in the West Bank and Gaza. The petitioners also demand that the state transfer its surplus vaccines to the Palestinians immediately. The petition was submitted by Adv. Adi Lustigman on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights Israel; HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual; Al Mezan Center for Human Rights...

Vaccine Imperialism: China vs. The Western World

February 24, 2021 Lee Siu Hin, Action LA. Educate! China, COVID-19, Vaccine apartheid, Vaccines

China and Russia are among the first countries in the world to vaccinate people, according to the website Our World in Data. By December 15, 2020, at least 1.5 million Chinese had taken a jab, compared to the U.S. and U.K. who also began their vaccination campaigns in early December and by December 15 had vaccinated around half a million people. So far China is leading the world in number of people who are fully vaccinated or have at least received the first jab. According to the Chinese media, as of January 23, 2021, nearly 16 million had taken a jab, closely followed by the number of people vaccinated in the U.S; as of February 9, China had administered 40.52 million doses and the U.S. had given 43.2 million.

What The Vaccine Debacle Tells Us About Predatory Capitalism

February 22, 2021 Ognian Kassabov, Al Jazeera. Educate! Capitalism, COVID-19, Vaccine apartheid, Vaccines

Vaccines have been a beacon of hope amid a raging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 2.4 million people and brought world economies to a halt. They have been presented as a remedy that would put an end to the immense suffering – physical, emotional, and economic – caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. But as vaccine roll-out has faltered due to various foreseen and unforeseen circumstances, the light of this imaginary beacon seems to be getting dimmer. As a recent article published in the leading medical journal The Lancet concludes, “new vaccines will mean little to individuals around the world if they are unable to get vaccinated in a timely manner”. Months after several vaccines were approved for use, vaccination campaigns have been disappointingly slow, and if deployment continues at the present rate, only a few of the world’s richest countries are expected to achieve herd immunity before the end of the summer.

The Global South Faces A ‘Vaccine Apartheid’

February 20, 2021 Hadas Thier, In These Times. Educate! COVID-19, Global South, Vaccine apartheid, Vaccines

The coronavirus crisis in South Africa is far from over despite falling case numbers in recent weeks. The virus has claimed more than of 50,000 lives, and many health experts predict a devastating third wave. Complicating matters is a new coronavirus mutation known as n501, which threatens to upend South Africa’s vaccination plans. Unprecedented scientific collaboration has expedited the development of the new vaccine candidates, but patents protecting the bottom lines of the pharmaceutical companies have hampered efforts to manufacture vaccines at scale. Meanwhile, the United States and Western Europe have hoarded limited supplies through bilateral negotiations with Big Pharma. Developing nations in the Global South have been left behind.

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