News & Media

Two-thirds of epidemiologists warn mutations could render current COVID vaccines ineffective in a year or less

March 30, 2021

New survey from People’s Vaccine Alliance shows urgency of vaccinating all countries

Epidemiologists, from some of the world’s leading academic institutions, delivered a stark warning today of the risk the world is taking by failing to ensure all countries have sufficient vaccines to protect people from COVID-19.

In a survey of 77 epidemiologists from 28 countries, carried out by The People’s Vaccine Alliance, two-thirds thought that we had a year or less before the virus mutates to the extent that the majority of first-generation vaccines are rendered ineffective and new or modified vaccines are required. Of those surveyed, almost a third gave a timeframe of nine months or less. Fewer than one in eight said they believed that mutations would never render the current vaccines ineffective.

The overwhelming majority – 88 per cent – said that persistent low vaccine coverage in many countries would make it more likely for vaccine resistant mutations to appear.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of over 50 organisations including African Alliance, Oxfam, Public Citizen and UNAIDS warned that at the current rate it was likely that only 10 per cent of people in the majority of poor countries will be vaccinated in the next year.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed – who included epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists from institutions including Johns Hopkins, Yale, Imperial College, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Cambridge University, the University of Edinburgh and The University of Cape Town – said that open sharing of technology and intellectual property could increase global vaccine coverage. The People’s Vaccine Alliance is calling for the lifting of pharmaceutical monopolies and the sharing of technology to urgently boost vaccine supply.

Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The more the virus circulates, the more likely it is that mutations and variants will emerge, which could make our current vaccines ineffective. At the same time, poor countries are being left behind without vaccines and basic medical supplies like oxygen.

“As we’ve learned, viruses don’t care about borders. We have to vaccinate as many people as possible, everywhere in the world, as quickly as possible. Why wait and watch instead of getting ahead of this?”

While he didn’t specify a timeframe, Gregg Gonsalves, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Yale University, echoed the urgency to vaccinate globally. Gonsalves said: “With millions of people around the world infected with this virus, new mutations arise every day. Sometimes they find a niche that makes them more fit than their predecessors. These lucky variants could transmit more efficiently and potentially evade immune responses to previous strains. Unless we vaccinate the world, we leave the playing field open to more and more mutations, which could churn out variants that could evade our current vaccines and require booster shots to deal with them.

“We all have a self-interest in ensuring that everyone around the world, no matter where they live have access to COVID-19 vaccines. The virus doesn’t respect borders and new variants somewhere on the planet mean none of us are safe.”

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA and Professor in Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University, said: “As nations start to expand their vaccination programmes we are once again reminded about our inter-dependence. High coverage rates and herd immunity in one country or region of the world while others, particularly low- and middle-income countries, continue to wait in line will create the perfect environment for the virus to continue to mutate and negate the benefits of any vaccine protection.

“In contrast, there are enormous benefits for everyone to have more equitable access to available doses of vaccines and achieve herd immunity globally sooner. As scientists, advocates, and decision-makers we must ensure that as many people are vaccinated all over the world and as soon as possible so that we can all focus our efforts in rebuilding our communities, livelihoods, and economies and know that we are all safe from COVID-19 and be better prepared for the next pandemic.”

The survey shows that it is imperative for the safety of all citizens in all countries that people in developing countries are vaccinated as soon as possible. Failure to tackle global vaccine inequality heightens the risk of further mutations.

Despite this imperative, rich country defence of the monopolies of pharmaceutical giants mean that global supplies are being artificially rationed, with a handful of companies deciding who lives and who dies. Earlier this month, rich countries blocked a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines. The People’s Vaccine Alliance urges them to reconsider when talks resume at the World Trade Organisation in April.

The Alliance is also calling for all pharmaceutical corporations working on COVID-19 vaccines to openly share their technology and intellectual property through the World Health Organization COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, in order to speed up and ramp up the production and rollout of vaccines to all countries.

Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, said: “In many rich nations, vaccinated people are starting to feel safer, but unless we vaccinate all nations, there is a huge risk that the protection offered by vaccines will be shattered by fresh mutations.

“This survey highlights that we need a people’s vaccine, not only to protect people in the world’s poorest countries, but to ensure that people all over the world who’ve already been vaccinated aren’t put at risk again.”

Current vaccines appear to be at least partially effective against existing mutations but where new vaccines are needed it will take many months before they are approved for use and even longer to begin rolling them out. In the meantime, lockdowns and travel bans will continue to be the main protections against rising infections and fatalities. New vaccine recipes will also be subject to the same pharmaceutical monopolies, further restricting access for the rest of the world.

Dr Mohga Kamal Yanni, Senior Health Policy Advisor to The People Vaccine Alliance, said: “If we were in a war with a country called COVID, would governments leave vital decisions on production, supply and price in the hands of arms producing companies?

“Given vaccines are our most crucial weapon in the fight against COVID-19, world leaders must take control to enable the World Health Organisation’s COVID Technology Access Pool to facilitate sharing of technology and Intellectual Property so that all capable companies can maximise global vaccine production.”

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Notes to editors:

Of the 77 respondents to the survey:

66.2% thought we had a year or less before the virus mutates to the extent that the majority of first-generation vaccines are rendered ineffective (18.2% of which thought we have 6 months or less and 32.5% said 9 months or less).
7.8% thought we would never see mutations rendering the current vaccines ineffective and new or modified vaccines being required and a further 7.8% didn’t feel confident in putting a time estimate. 18.2% thought we had 2 years or more before mutations render the current vaccines ineffective and new or modified vaccines are required.
74% said that open sharing of technology and intellectual property could increase global vaccine coverage. 23% said maybe and 3% said no.
88.3% said that persistent low vaccine coverage in many countries would make it more likely for vaccine resistant mutations to appear, 6.5% said it wouldn’t and 5.2% didn’t answer the question.

The survey was carried out between 17 February and 25 March 2021. Survey respondents include epidemiologists, virologists and infection disease specialists form the following universities / institutions:

Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark, Académie nationale de médecine in Paris, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Amader Hospital India, AMREF International University in Kenya, Belgian Lung and Tuberculosis Association, Cambridge University, Centre for Family Health Research in Zambia, Centre for Disease Control & Prevention in South Sudan, Centre for Infections Disease research Zambia, Columbia University USA, Complutense University in Madrid, Danish Medical Association, école de santé publique de l’Université in Montréal, Emory University USA, Forum for ethics review committees in India, fundacion huesped in Argentina, Georgetown USA, Good Clinical Practice Alliance – Europe (GCPA), Hamdard University in India, Ibn Sina Academy of Medicine and Sciences in India, Imperial College London, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine USA, ISPG – Instituto Superior Politecnico de Gaza, Johns Hopkins University USA, Johnson & Johnson, Kabale University in Uganda, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Lebanese University, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Makerere University in Uganda, Movement for Community-led Development, Mpilonhle in South Africa, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani in Italy, National Research Ethics Board/PREVAIL in Liberia, OTRANS-RN in Guatemala, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, Portland State University School of Public Health USA, St. Luke’s Medical Centre in the Philippines, Tufts University USA, University College London UK, University College London Institute for Global Health UK, University of Cape Town, Cliniques Universitaires Saint–Luc in Belgium, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay in the Philippines, UK Emergency Medical Team, Unicamillus International University of Medical Science in Italy, Union of Junior Doctors in Denmark, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno in Bolivia, Universidad Nacional del Litoral in Argentina, University of Cambridge UK, University of Cape Town in South Africa, University of Edinburgh UK, University of Maryland USA, University of Oxford, University of Pretoria in South Africa, University of Southern Denmark, University of Zimbabwe, University of Zambia, Walter Sisulu University in South Africa, World Health Organisation India, Wits University in South Africa and Yale School of Public Health USA.

The respondents were from the following 28 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, India, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Norway, Philippines, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, UAE, Uganda, UK, USA, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Media Contact:

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | [email protected] | 0210664210

Massive fire in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps leaves 45,000 people displaced

March 25, 2021

Key Facts

Massive fires swept through the Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camps on March 22, 2021.
The damage is significant and still being assessed.
Preliminary reports say that 10,000 families (approximately 45,000 persons) were displaced.
At least 15 refugees were killed. Hundreds of others were injured.
Four camps have extensive damage. Thousands of shelters, offices, and other facilities were burned.
Oxfam’s Rapid Response Team has been deployed and worked through the night providing water to help extinguish the fire. The team also provided drinking water, hygiene kits, and emergency latrines.
Fencing around the camps impeded firefighting machinery and refugees attempts to escape the fire. • Humanitarians are urgently asking the authorities for: (1) improved phone/internet connectivity in camps, (2) to waive the restrictions on passes for NGO cars, (3) for access gates to be opened and fences taken down from roads.

A massive fire that swept through the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday has left 10,000 families—roughly 45,000 people—displaced and in urgent need of food, water, and sanitation services, Oxfam warned today. The fire was yet another devastating blow to the Rohingya people who fled shocking violence and persecution in Myanmar.

The fire started on Monday at 4pm and spread rapidly for several hours in the densely populated camps, destroying thousands of bamboo and tarpaulin shelters, until government fire and rescue services managed to control the blaze. The damage is extensive and still being assessed, but early reports suggest that 15 people were killed, and at least 560 people were injured, while hundreds remain missing.

“The worst affected areas have been reduced to ash—the only things left standing are shelter foundations and bits of household metal like pots and sewing machines. The level of destruction is unlike anything our team has seen before,” said Enamul Hoque, who leads Oxfam’s Rapid Response Team.

“We are deeply concerned for the safety and wellbeing of the 10,000 families displaced by the fire. The blaze has destroyed critical infrastructure, including water stands and sanitation facilities. Refugee families are in urgent need of food, drinking water, and safe toilet facilities.”

Oxfam’s Rohingya volunteers were the first responders, followed by the multi-agency Rapid Response Team, which deployed immediately with water trucks—on standby for such emergencies—and rushed to the camps to help extinguish the blaze. The team also transported water in jerry cans to refugees in areas that the water trucks could not reach. Barbed wire fencing around the camps impeded both refugees’ ability to escape and the Oxfam response team’s ability to provide aid in time and at scale.

“The Rapid Response team worked through the night, setting up water tankers and installing tap stands to distribute emergency drinking water. The team also provided displaced refugees with hygiene kits and emergency latrines,” said Mr Hoque. “It will take time to repair water infrastructure systems, increasing the risk of sickness, particularly as the monsoon season approaches.”

Oxfam will also work with partners to distribute soap, food, and household essentials like solar lights.

The Cox’s Bazar camps are severely crowded with roughly 40,000 people per square kilometer. The 10,000 families displaced by the fire are now taking temporary refuge in other camps which are already densely populated, further heightening the risk of an outbreak of COVID-19.

In the wake of the fire, many families and children have been separated. A top priority in the coming days will be reuniting families and monitoring the safety conditions for those who have been displaced. As we know from past experience, women and girls bear the brunt of this type of crisis—often placing themselves at risk to find means to survive. Oxfam will continue to assess gendered needs and identify immediate solutions together with other humanitarian actors.

Notes to the Editor

The Rapid Response team works in coordination with Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), the UN, and the Cox’s Bazar WASH sector.
Oxfam New Zealand has been supporting women’s leadership and access to services in the camps since 2017, with funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Media Contact

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | [email protected] | 0210664210

Nesrine Aly | Oxfam News Manager | Cairo, Egypt | [email protected] | +201222486964 / +447503989838

Lily Partland | Senior Media Coordinator | Melbourne, Australia | [email protected] | +61 418 118 687

Yemen at tipping point as Covid-19 second wave hits amid renewed fighting and famine fears – Oxfam

March 23, 2021

Evidence is mounting that a second wave of Covid-19 is already underway in Yemen, Oxfam warned today, with a 22-fold increase in recorded cases in recent weeks. It comes at a time when it is feared renewed fighting will force hundreds of thousands of people to flee to safety.

Oxfam said that a second spike would be devastating for a country entering its seventh year of war. The UN is already warning that Yemen faces the worst famine the world has seen for decades and amid intense fighting in Marib governorate which it is feared will force almost 400,000 people to flee. The arrival of the rainy season – expected in May – is expected to see a renewed threat from cholera, which combined with Covid will overwhelm a health system battered by six years of war and economic collapse. Despite this huge level of need Yemen’s aid programme is more than 50 per cent underfunded.

Recorded cases of Covid in the first two weeks of March were 22 times higher than the number of cases in the first two weeks of February. The figures indicate a sharp rise in the number of people being admitted to healthcare facilities with severe symptoms as these are the only people who are tested.

Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said: “Yemen is at a tipping point – millions of people are already teetering at the edge of a precipice, now Covid, cholera and an intensification of the conflict threatens to push them over.

“In cities around the country people are living through intensified fighting and a second Covid spike. Many people don’t go to hospital when they have symptoms – even where treatment is available many cannot afford medical bills.

“With little testing, we can’t quantify the true scale of the problem, but we do know that Covid is accelerating fast. I’m hearing daily of fresh tragedies – people who have died of Covid-like symptoms without receiving medical attention.”

Oxfam said it was concerned that by forcing people to flee for safety, the recent surge in fighting will speed the spread of the virus around the country.

The escalation in hostilities around Marib, where a number of Covid cases have been reported recently, is one of a number of worrying developments as the war in Yemen enters its seventh year. Renewed fighting around Taiz, Hajjah, Hudaydah and Aldhale’e which have seen multiple airstrikes and renewed tensions in Aden and have brought fresh misery to those cities.

Since February, more than 11,000 IDPs in Marib have been displaced again, with some entire camps forced to evacuate. Many have been displaced four or five times as the frontlines of Yemen’s war have shifted. Local officials have told Oxfam they think the UN figure is an underestimate and as many as 3 million people are actually displaced in the area.

More than 4 million people have so far been displaced by the conflict and nearly 68 per cent of Yemenis need humanitarian assistance. The UN estimates 1.2 million people have fled to Marib, which until recently was considered relatively safe and hosts the largest internally displaced population in Yemen.

Muhsin Siddiquey said: “People in Marib are desperate, they face a stark choice between staying put risking their lives and their children’s lives or fleeing into the desert where there is no water or food.

“In cities around the country people are living through intensified fighting and a second Covid spike. I’m hearing terrible reports of children being killed, houses in residential districts being hit and people being forced to flee.”

Official figures record 3418 cases and 751 deaths from Covid in Yemen giving a mortality rate of nearly 22 per cent – one of the highest in the world. But with little testing and widespread reports of illness and deaths, the actual Covid death toll is undoubtedly far higher. So far no-one in

Yemen has been vaccinated against Covid, although the country is expecting to receive vaccines later this month.

Yemen’s health system is estimated to be operating at half of its pre-war capacity despite the massively increased need for it. Many healthcare staff have been unpaid for months while there are just 700 ICU beds and 500 ventilators for a population of 30 million.

The country has struggled with cholera since the world’s worst outbreak began five years ago with more than 2 million reported cases.

Earlier this month the UN held a donor pledging conference asking for $3.85 billion but received less than $1.7 billion, less than was received in 2020 and $1 billion less than the amount pledged at the 2019 conference.

Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said: ““Even people who escape the missiles and bullets face a daily struggle to survive in the face of disease and destitution. Yemenis have suffered for six long years – it is time for the world to say, enough.

“This is a man-made conflict and these deaths are avoidable. With efforts from the UN Envoy and a recommitment to peace from the new US administration, the international community must seize this moment to collectively pressure all sides to end the suffering. Peace is possible if governments put lives ahead of politics.”

/ends

Notes for editors:

The international escalation of conflict in Yemen occurred on March 26^th 2015.

Case studies from Marib available on request

Yemen 2021 Humanitarian needs overview https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen_HNO_2021_Final.pdf

Yemen covid data – https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

Covid Vaccine distribution https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/

2018 Hudaydah displacement figures : https://www.iom.int/news/yemen-hudaydah-displaced-population-now-estimated-336846

https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/situation_reports/file/en_iom_yemen_displacement_in_marib_flash_update_5_11_march_2021.pdf

Local officials estimate 3 million IDPs in Marib https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-displacement-marib-flash-update-23-february-2021

Between April 2017and December 2018, there were over 1.3million suspected cholera cases and 2,760 associated deaths in the country –one of the worst outbreaks in recent history.(UN YHNO –December 2018)

The World Health Organisation reported an increase in suspected cholera cases in 2019, with over 861,000 suspected cases and 1025associated deaths recorded. http://yemeneoc.org/bi/

Between January 1^st and June 30th 2020 there have been 150, 849 suspected cases recorded

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2019_Yemen_HNO_FINAL.pdf

Syria marks 10 years of conflict

March 17, 2021

Are Syria’s broken people being forgotten after 10 years of conflict?

Ten years on, the Syrian conflict continues to cause misery for the millions who have fled and those who are still trapped inside the country. Along with the Council for International Development, 12 New Zealand aid agencies are thankful for caring Kiwis who have supported their work among Syrian refugees and for New Zealand Government funding but are urging the government to remember those who continue to suffer.

In February, the UN reported a funding gap of 9.81 billion US dollars to meet the needs of suffering Syrians. This shows the scale of the continuing humanitarian need and the economic cost of 10 years of conflict in Syria has been put at 1.2 trillion USD. At $US19.4 billion, humanitarian aid to Syria over that time has been just 1.6 per cent of that amount.

New Zealand aid agencies are grateful for the New Zealand Government funding they received that supported their work among refugees up until May 2017. However, with no diplomatic end in sight for the devastated country, New Zealand aid agencies are asking the New Zealand Government not to abandon the people of Syria and release more much-needed funding so that they can carry on supporting Syrian refugees.

CEO of Tearfund NZ, Ian McInnes says, “On the 10th year of Syria’s war, we collectively urge the New Zealand Government and the International Community to continue investing in long-term solutions for Syrian children so that the past decade does not define their future. Aid remains a lifeline for all war-affected Syrians who are still struggling to access critical services including health, nutrition, education and protection.”

National Director of World Vision NZ, Grant Bayldon says, “As the war has gone on, the suffering of the people has increasingly been forgotten. As funds have dried up, so has the help that many Syrian families need to make it through.”

Executive Director of Oxfam NZ, Rachael Le Mesurier says, “With the ongoing impact of Covid-19, escalating climate change and a global economic recession, aid agencies face some tough decisions but this is not the time to lose focus on Syria. We urge the New Zealand Government to renew its efforts to influence world leaders to find a political solution that could bring this conflict to an end and make further financial aid available to New Zealand aid agencies to help Syrian families and communities traumatised by ten years of war.”

CEO of UNICEF NZ, Michelle Sharp says, the decade-long war in Syria has had an unimaginable toll on children. “Today, more than six million children need assistance, half a million are chronically malnourished, and in the last year alone, the reported number of children in psychological distress has doubled. Every child has the right to safety and we must urgently reimagine a better world for Syrian children.”

CEO of Save the Children NZ, Heidi Coetzee, says the children of Syrian are paying the ultimate price of this deadly and prolonged conflict. We call on political leaders to urgently bring about a peaceful resolution to this conflict that has gone on 10 years too long.

Key Stats

Over 5.5 million Syrians live as refugees in the region. More than six million Syrians are displaced within the country.
Approximately one in four people in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee. (About 1.5m refugees)
More than half of Syria’s infrastructure has been destroyed
Though Syria accounts for less than one per cent of the world’s population, its people make up nearly one-third of refugees worldwide.
Approximately 50 per cent of all registered Syrian refugees are under the age of 18 and millions have grown up knowing nothing but conflict.

Covid-19 cases (15-03-2021)

Syria: 16,401 cases 1094 deaths
Lebanon: 415,000, cases 5,334 deaths

The 12 Council for International Development affiliated aid agencies are: ADRA, Anglican Missions, Caritas, CBM, CWS, Hagar, International Needs, Oxfam, Save the Children NZ, Tearfund, UNICEF and World Vision.

/ Ends

Media Contacts:
Helen Manson
[email protected]
022 5861567

Gabriel Thomas
[email protected]
+6421360098

In response to calls for a waiver of Trade and Intellectual Property Rules (TRIPS) for COVID-19 vaccines.

March 12, 2021

In response to calls for a waiver of Trade and Intellectual Property Rules (TRIPS) for COVID-19 vaccines, which is backed by more than 100 mostly developing countries, being blocked again at World Trade Organisation talks by rich countries, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, Anna Marriott, said:

“This is a massive missed opportunity to speed up and scale up the production of lifesaving vaccines worldwide by waiving the intellectual property barriers that prevent more qualified manufacturers joining the effort.

“Rich countries are vaccinating at a rate of one person per second yet are siding with a handful of pharmaceutical corporations in protecting their monopolies against the needs of the majority of developing countries who are struggling to administer a single dose.

“It is unforgivable that while people are literally fighting for breath, rich country governments continue to block what could be a vital breakthrough in ending this pandemic for everyone in rich and poor countries alike.

“During a pandemic that is devastating lives across the planet, governments should be using their powers now, not tomorrow, to remove intellectual property rules and ensure pharmaceutical companies work together to share technology and fix raw material shortages, all of which are standing in the way of a massive scale up in production.”

/Ends

Oxfam is part of The Peoples’ Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of global and national organizations and activists united under a common aim of campaigning for a ‘People’s Vaccine’. The call for a People’s Vaccine is backed by past and present world leaders, health experts, faith leaders and economists. For more information visit: https://peoplesvaccine.org

Rich nations vaccinating one person every second while majority of the poorest nations are yet to give a single dose

March 10, 2021

US, UK and EU blocking proposals at WTO to help poorer countries get vaccines more quickly

One year on from the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the People’s Vaccine Alliance is warning that developing countries are facing critical shortages of oxygen and medical supplies to cope with COVID-19 cases yet the majority have been unable to administer a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In contrast rich nations have vaccinated their citizens at a rate of one person per second over the last month.

Many of these rich nations, including the US, UK and EU, are blocking a proposal by over 100 developing countries to be discussed at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) today, which would override the monopolies held by pharmaceutical companies and allow an urgently needed scale up in the production of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines to ensure poorer countries get access to the doses they desperately need. New Zealand has not yet indicated its support for the waiver.

While more poor countries will see the arrival of doses in the coming days from the World Health Organisation’s COVAX facility, the amounts available mean only three per cent of people in those countries can hope to be vaccinated by mid-year, and only one fifth at best by the end of 2021.

Almost one million people worldwide have signed a call by the People’s Vaccine Alliance – a group of campaigning organisations including Oxfam, Frontline AIDS, UNAIDS, Global Justice Now and the Yunus Centre – for rich nations to stop protecting big pharma monopolies and profits over people’s lives. On 11 March protests will take place outside pharmaceutical headquarters as part of a global day of action by activists across the world.

Recent public opinion polls carried out by YouGov for the Alliance in the US, France, Germany and the UK found that on average, across these countries, more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of people thought that governments should ensure vaccine science and know-how is shared with qualified manufacturers around the world rather than remaining the exclusive property of a handful of pharmaceutical giants and that vaccine developers should be adequately compensated for this.

Oxfam International’s Executive Director, Gabriela Bucher, said: “Around the world, two and a half million lives have already been lost due to this brutal disease and many countries are battling without adequate medical care and no vaccines. By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line. At this crucial time, developing countries need support – not opposition.”

The Alliance warned that in South Africa, Malawi and other African nations history is in danger of repeating itself. Millions of people died in the early 2000’s because pharmaceutical monopolies had priced successful treatments for HIV/AIDS out of reach at up to USD$10,000 a year.

Lois Chingandu, activist and Director of Evidence and Influence at Frontline AIDS, said: “Here in Zimbabwe, I have lost many dear friends, struggling to breathe in their last moments. It is a cruel irony that activists who fought tirelessly for free medicines for HIV/AIDS are now being killed by COVID-19 because, yet again, pharma profits are being put ahead of people’s lives.”

Pharma monopolies were eventually overruled allowing the mass production of cheap effective treatment for those living with HIV/AIDS, meaning millions of people are alive today who would otherwise have perished.

On 10-11 March, more than 100 developing countries, led by South Africa and India will again make the case at the WTO for a waiver of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), which would remove legal barriers for more countries and manufacturers to produce the vaccines, protect their people and join the economic recovery ahead.

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, one of the leaders of the People’s Vaccine Alliance said: “For the rich world, this proposed act of human solidarity to ensure that medicines and vaccines get to the whole human family simultaneously is in their own self-interest, not just an act of charity.

“We should act now. There is no going back. It is totally unfair that rich countries, who have enough vaccines to protect their citizens, are blocking the TRIPS waiver, which could help poorer countries get the vaccines they need.”

All the leading vaccine developers have benefited from billions of dollars in public subsidies, yet pharmaceutical corporations have been handed the monopoly rights to produce and profit from them.

At the same time qualified vaccine producers all over the world stand ready to produce more vaccines if they were allowed access to the technology and know-how now being held under lock and key by these companies. New capacity could be brought on stream within months. Suhaib Siddiqi, former director of chemistry at Moderna, producer of one of the first approved vaccines, said that with the blueprint and technical advice, a modern factory should be able to produce vaccines in at most three to four months.

France has called for the expansion of production in developing countries, and the US has moved to achieve the same domestically. But so far both countries continue to defend the monopolies of pharma corporations.

To control the virus, enough doses of vaccines need to be produced in different geographies, priced affordably, allocated globally and widely deployed for free in local communities. Thus far, the world is failing on all four fronts.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director UNAIDS, said: “Amid so much personal selflessness, sacrifice and heroism, the People’s Vaccine Alliance denounces the hypocrisy, emptiness of human solidarity and myopic self-interest that defeats efforts to control the virus in countries. Only a truly global mobilization of vaccine production to rapidly scale-up the total number of low-cost doses available will get the job done.”

Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice Now, said: “One year into the global pandemic, it’s an outrage that vaccine factories are lying idle, unable to produce COVID-19 vaccines because rich countries are prioritising the patents of pharmaceutical companies ahead of the lives of people across the world. A global suspension of patents is needed to speed up the production of these vaccines everywhere.”

/Ends

Notes to editors:

Drawing on data from OurWorldInData, Bloomberg, John Hopkins University and additional searches, of the 79 low and lower-middle income countries, as classified by the World Bank, the majority (at least 47 countries) are yet to vaccinate anyone. This figure is accurate as of 4 March and factors in reported planned deliveries of COVAX vaccines in the coming days even if vaccines are yet to be administered. We recognise that more unreported COVAX shipments may arrive in the interim.
Since the start of 2021 high income countries have on average vaccinated citizens at a rate of one dose per second. This is based on the average daily COVID-19 vaccination doses administered between 1 January and 2 March 2021 and was drawn from OurWorldInData for countries classified as ‘High Income’ by the World Bank. An hourly rate was calculated by assuming countries are vaccinating 8 hours per day which was then divided into minutes and seconds. The average of these per second rates for these 68 high income countries was then calculated at 1.1 doses per second or 66 per minute. The average figure includes six High Income countries that have not yet begun vaccinating citizens.
The YouGov poll results for the individual countries were: US – 69 per cent, France – 63 per cent, Germany 70 per cent and the UK 74 per cent, which gives a combined average across the countries of 69 per cent. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,351 adults in the US, 1788 adults in the UK, 1010 adults in France and 2039 adults in Germany. Fieldwork was undertaken between 23 – 26 February 2021. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults (aged 18+) in each individual country of the US, UK, France and Germany.
Last week, The Associated Press found factories on three continents whose owners said they could begin producing hundreds of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines on short notice, if only they had the blueprints and technical know how to do so.
Countries like South Sudan, Yemen and Malawi have seen dramatic surges in cases in recent months. Malawi saw a 9500 per cent increase in cases as the South African mutation spread through the country and two of their cabinet ministers died in one day.

For more information, or to arrange an interview please contact:

Kelsey-Rae Taylor on [email protected] or 021 298 5894