News & Media

Campaigners warn that 9 out of 10 people in poor countries are set to miss out on COVID-19 vaccine next year

December 9, 2020

Rich countries have hoarded enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly 3 times over.

Nearly 70 poor countries will only be able to vaccinate one in ten people against COVID-19 next year unless urgent action is taken by governments and the pharmaceutical industry to make sure enough doses are produced, a group of campaigning organisations warned today.

By contrast, wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021 if those currently in clinical trials are all approved for use. Canada tops the chart with enough vaccines to vaccinate each Canadian five times. Updated data shows that rich nations representing just 14 per cent of the world’s population have bought up 53 per cent of all the most promising vaccines so far.

The organisations, including Amnesty International, Frontline AIDS, Global Justice Now and Oxfam, who are part of an alliance calling for a People’s Vaccine, used data collected by science information and analytics company Airfinity to analyse the deals done between countries and the eight leading vaccine candidates. They found that 67 low and lower middle-income countries risk being left behind as rich countries move towards their escape route from this pandemic. Five of the 67 – Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Ukraine – have reported nearly 1.5 million cases between them.

Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s health policy Manager, said: “No one should be blocked from getting a life-saving vaccine because of the country they live in or the amount of money in their pocket. But unless something changes dramatically, billions of people around the world will not receive a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 for years to come.”

Heidi Chow, from Global Justice Now, said: “All pharmaceutical corporations and research institutions working on a vaccine must share the science, technological know-how, and intellectual property behind their vaccine so enough safe and effective doses can be produced. Governments must also ensure the pharmaceutical industry puts people’s lives before profits.”

The Pfizer /BioNTech vaccine has already received approval in the UK and vaccinations are beginning this week. It is likely to receive approval from other countries including the US within days. Two further potential vaccines, from Moderna and Oxford in partnership with AstraZeneca are expected to submit or are awaiting regulatory approval. The Russian vaccine, Sputnik, has announced positive trial results and four other candidates are in phase 3 clinical trials.

So far, all of Moderna’s doses and 96 percent of Pfizer/BioNTech’s have been acquired by rich countries. In welcome contrast Oxford/AstraZeneca has pledged to provide 64 percent of their doses to people in developing nations. Yet despite their actions to scale up supply they can still only reach 18 per cent of the world’s population next year at most. Oxford/AstraZeneca deals have also mostly been made with some of the big developing countries like China and India, while the majority of developing countries have not done deals and have to share the COVAX pool of vaccines between them.

This demonstrates that one company alone cannot hope to supply the whole world, and that only open sharing of technology between vaccine producers can make this possible.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance is calling on 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, so that billions more doses can be manufactured and safe and effective vaccines can be available to all who need them.

The Alliance is also calling on governments to do everything in their power to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are made a global public good—free of charge to the public, fairly distributed and based on need. A first step would be to support South Africa and India’s proposal to the World Trade Organisation Council this week to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments until everyone is protected.

Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice, said: “The hoarding of vaccines actively undermines global efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere can be protected from COVID-19. Rich countries have clear human rights obligations not only to refrain from actions that could harm access to vaccines elsewhere, but also to cooperate and provide assistance to countries that need it.

“By buying up the vast majority of the world’s vaccine supply, rich countries are in breach of their human rights obligations. Instead, by working with others to share knowledge and scale up supply, they could help bring an end to the global COVID-19 crisis.”

The vaccines developed by AstraZeneca/Oxford, Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have received more than $5 billion dollars of public funding, which the alliance said placed a responsibility on them to act in the global public interest.

Dr Mohga Kamal Yanni, from the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “Rich countries have enough doses to vaccinate everyone nearly three times over, whilst poor countries don’t even have enough to even reach health workers and people at risk.

“The current system, where pharmaceutical corporations use government funding for research, retain exclusive rights and keep their technology secret to boost profits, could cost many lives.”

Lois Chingandu, Director of Frontline AIDS, said: “This pandemic is a global problem that requires a global solution. The global economy will continue to suffer so long as much of the world does not have access to a vaccine.

“We need to put pharmaceutical industry profit aside during this unprecedented pandemic, both to save humanity and the economy.”

Momentum is mounting for a People’s vaccine, which has already been backed by COVID survivors, health experts, activists, past and present world leaders, faith leaders and economists including: Cyril Ramaphosa, Imran Khan, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Gordon Brown, Helen Clark, Mary Robinson, Joseph Stiglitz, John Nkengasong and Thomas Piketty.

Last month in the US, more than 100 high-level leaders from public health, faith-based, racial justice, and labor organizations, joined former members of Congress, economists and artists to sign a public letter calling on President-elect Biden seize on this extraordinary moment and power of the US President to support a People’s Vaccine.

/Ends

Notes to editors:

All figures are based on the fact 2 doses are required apart from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which is a single dose vaccine.

The Peoples’ Vaccine Alliance is 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

The figures have been calculated by analysing data from Airfinity for November 2020. The statistic ‘9 out of 10 people missing out on vaccines in 67 countries’ is based on the fact that 30 low income countries and 37 lower-middle income countries currently will only have access to any vaccine through the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC). The 67 countries do not include middle income countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam, who have also made their own bilateral deals. So far, the COVAX AMC has managed to secure 700 million doses from the leading vaccine candidates, to be distributed between the 92 countries that have signed up. The figure was reached by dividing 700 million doses by the population of the 92 countries (3.6 billion), then dividing that by two, as two doses are required by the vaccines already secured by COVAX AMC to vaccinate each individual.

Details of the COVAX AMC can be found here: https://www.gavi.org/news/media-room/92-low-middle-income-economies-eligible-access-covid-19-vaccines-gavi-covax-amc

The 67 countries are: Afghanistan, Angola, Algeria, Benin, Bhutan, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, The Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kenya, Kiribati, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, Vanuatu, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Calculations of proportion of doses for rich and poor nations were based on analysing data on supply deals gathered by Airfinity. We examined the vaccine candidates that are in phase three trials that have done significant supply deals with countries across the world, cross-checking with original sources. There are currently eight of these: Astra Zeneca/Oxford, Novovax, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi/GSK, Pfizer/BioNTech, Gamaleya/Sputnik, Moderna and Sinovac.

According to data from Johns Hopkins, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Ukraine have had over 1.46m cases between them: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

For interviews or more information please contact:
Kelsey-Rae Taylor | [email protected] | 021 298 9854

Are there enough fridges in developing countries for Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine?

December 8, 2020

Sick of hearing about Fridges by Max Lawson - Head of Inequality Policy, Oxfam International

I listen to the World Service news each morning, and I was excited the other day that they said they were going to do a piece on vaccine access in developing countries later in the show. I was pleased as 95% of the coverage of the vaccines issue I have heard seems to completely forget developing countries. Imagine my disappointment when the piece was all about the fact that the Pfizer vaccine needs a super cold refrigerator to be kept without being spoiled, and that distributing the vaccine in developing countries would be hard because they don’t have a ‘super cold-chain’. It was not just the World Service either. Listening to most of the coverage, you would be left thinking that the only thing standing between a citizen of a poor country and the vaccine was the quality of the country’s fridges.

No mention of the fact that rich nations have already bought virtually all the available supply of both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine up to the end of 2021. There is literally none for sale to developing countries.

Also no mention of the cost, which is prohibitive for most poor nations. Pfizer’s vaccine costs $40 dollars per person. That is more than the total per capita spending on health in Bangladesh for example. Moderna’s is even more expensive.

I took all of this not just as sign of the terrible quality of today’s journalism, but also as a bit of a personal failure, as we have been campaigning all summer for a People’s Vaccine, focusing on the issues stopping poor people in poor countries accessing a vaccine, but these issues have barely got a hearing so far. Still we must keep fighting.

A broken system for developing medicines for the world.

These first line issues of rich countries buying up supplies and the very high cost have their roots in the underlying model of relying on major pharmaceutical firms to vaccinate the world.

This deeply broken system relies on these huge corporations for global health. It is a system that has consistently failed, prioritising drugs for erectile dysfunction over malaria. Yet rather than use the opportunity of the Coronavirus pandemic to build a better and more rational way of doing things, rich nations have doubled down on this failed approach. As Boris Johnson put it in a recent speech:

‘It isn’t the state that produces the new drugs and therapies we are using. It isn’t the state that will hold the intellectual property of the vaccine, if and when we get one. It was the private sector, with its rational interest in innovation and competition and market share and, yes, sales.’

It is an approach that puts the profit, intellectual property and monopoly of Pharmaceutical corporations ahead of supplying enough cheap and effective vaccines for the world. It is artificially rationing supply, and this in turn will cost lives.

It is fact the case than none of these leading vaccines would exist without the state. The leading vaccine candidates have received billions already in taxpayer’s money. Moderna received billions in US government funding. Pfizer claims it did not, ignoring the uncomfortable fact that its partner, a German firm called BioNTech received hundreds of millions of euro in government funding. It was also BioNtech that invented the vaccine in the first place. Pfizer are effectively just middlemen yet stand to make an absolute fortune with a profit margin of up to 80%.

As the vaccine is rolled out in the UK, US and other rich nations, the world is getting to see what a rational distribution of the vaccine should look like. No doubt some of the richest people in these countries will find a way to get the vaccine whatever happens. Nevertheless, most vaccinations are going to happen in an orderly and rational way, prioritising groups like health workers and the elderly first.

This stands in stark contrast to the way that vaccines are going to be distributed globally. There is actually a WHO led equitable allocation framework, which would see every country having enough vaccines to vaccinate its key workers and other vulnerable groups first. Which makes sense both in terms of global health and in terms of the global economy. Yet sadly this is being completely ignored as rich nations rush to stockpile enough vaccine to vaccinate every single one of their citizens many times over. Meanwhile many poor nations have virtually no access at all. If ever there was a need for a world government, it is now.

Yet back in the world of naked national self-interest, it is hard to blame the leaders of rich nations for wanting to ensure their citizens are safe. That is their job after all. It is a brave political leader who tells a voter in Manchester they must wait to be vaccinated until a health worker in Mali gets the jab. Finding a way to rationally divide up the finite supply was always going to be an uphill struggle.

Rich nations not doing enough to maximise the supply of vaccines

But what I do blame rich country governments for is failing to do everything in their power to instead maximise the supply of cheap, safe and effective vaccines. They have immense leverage over these vaccine producers. The huge public money they have given. The guarantees of purchase, where as bulk purchasers they have huge power. The fact that these firms are based in their countries. All of this leverage and more could have been used to break through the ossified system of secrecy, profit and patent and flood the world with safe and effective vaccines.

The Oxford/ AstraZeneca deal is being contrasted rightly with Pfizer and Moderna. Oxford and AZ have done the majority of their supply deals with developing countries and are producing billions of doses. Their vaccine is far cheaper. There is absolutely no doubt that this deal is vital for most of the world and is the best of the lot so far.

But even this deal is far from ideal. It is still secret. It is still an exclusive license from Oxford University to Astra Zeneca, despite one of the two inventors of the vaccine Adrian Hill commenting early on that: “I personally don’t believe that in a time of pandemic there should be exclusive licenses…. Nobody is going to make a lot of money off this”. Soon after this an exclusive license was exactly what happened, in a rather grubby struggle between academics within Oxford University and involving the Gates Foundation and the UK government. AstraZeneca eventually secured the exclusive deal by promising to help fund a new research institute at the university, and Oxford is set to potentially make a profit of $100 million dollars.

The deal was nevertheless a good one- low ‘not for profit’ prices had to be guaranteed by AZ for some developing countries in perpetuity and for the rest of the world ‘during the pandemic’ (although documents leaked to the Financial Times showed that AZ reserved the right to define when the pandemic finishes, and this could be as early as next summer).

Maybe this was the best deal that could be secured. Maybe it was not. We will never know probably as it is all clouded in secrecy, despite huge public funding. Either way it means most of the world is largely reliant on one company. A company that unlike Pfizer and Moderna, actually saw its share price fall following the announcement of its successful results in November. Markets are punishing Astra Zeneca for having the least profitable of the three deals.

This shows the limits of expecting individual companies to act better. In some ways expecting big Pharma to invest in vaccinating poor people in poor countries is like asking a wolf to be vegetarian. Arguably they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do, make money. Often unethically, rapaciously and excessively. Sometimes corruptly and illegally. But their core business is to make money and that is never going to change.

So whilst a far more regulated and policed pharma sector is essential, I think this can only ever be part of the problem of designing and delivering cheap safe and effective vaccines and medicines for all. To do this we need to go beyond market-based solutions to this fundamental human need. Health is a public good, which underpins everything, not least a functioning market economy. Leaving our health to the vagaries of the market can have an astronomical cost for the rest of the economy. The last few months has demonstrated this clearly. Health is simply too important a human need to be left to the market.

What is needed instead is a new strategy, based on the public good. So far this race for a vaccine has shown us the best of humanity, and sadly the worst too. What is needed now is imagination and ambition to build a new and permanent change in the way we develop medicines and vaccines. I think that we need to imagine a far more public system, from the research and development all the way through to the nurse giving you our injection.

The fight for a People’s Vaccine

For the moment such decisive leadership looks sadly unlikely. But we could still see important moves by rich nations and others in the coming months that could make a huge difference. Over a hundred leaders wrote to Joe Biden this week, calling on him to support a People’s Vaccine. He is uniquely placed to put leverage on the majority of the leading vaccine candidates.

Nearly a million people have signed Avaaz’s petition for rich nations to support a waiver on all intellectual property relating to Covid-19 medicines. This proposal has been made jointly by the governments of India and South Africa, and is so far vehemently opposed by the US, EU and UK. The Chinese and the Russian governments have developed successful vaccines and are doing supply deals with countries all over the world, in contrast to rich nations who are only focused on their own.

As the next few months unfold, the world will watch as rich nations vaccinate their populations and beat this disease. At the same time, many, many people will continue to die in developing countries for want of a vaccine. This will put huge moral pressure on the leaders of these rich nations to do more. If we can successfully show the world that rich nations are choosing to put Pharma profit ahead of vaccinating the world, perhaps they will be forced to act. It is certainly something worth fighting for.

Oxfam reaction to NZ government’s declaration of climate emergency

December 2, 2020

In response to the New Zealand government’s move to declare a climate emergency, Oxfam New Zealand’s Campaigns Lead Alex Johnston said:

“It’s significant to see the New Zealand government formally recognise the urgency of our climate crisis, and we hope this symbolic step heralds swift and just climate action here and on the world stage.

“As the Prime Minister has acknowledged herself, what’s important is to follow through with the required ambition and policy measures. New Zealand has talked a big game about tackling climate change, but we still have a long way to go in achieving results.

“It’s also crucial that urgent climate action goes hand in hand with a just and inclusive process that centres historically marginalised groups including Māori, Pacific and disabled communities. An emergency response that side-lines people’s rights will not advance the cause of climate justice.

“To meet the climate crisis with the urgency required, Oxfam is calling on the New Zealand government to significantly enhance our 2030 target to reduce emissions under the Paris agreement alongside the domestic policies to meet it, and to immediately double our funding of climate action in frontline and developing countries.

“These measures will take us closer to our fair share of climate finance and closer to pulling our weight in the effort to keep global heating to less than 1.5 degrees.

“It’s inexcusable that our country is one of the few industrialised nations in the world where net emissions have kept going up since 1990 – and that trajectory is not going to change much on current policy. We are also one of the lowest contributors per capita in climate finance for communities on the frontlines.

“Across the world, and with around 1 degree of global heating, climate change is already fuelling deadly cyclones, huge locust swarms that have devastated crops, and unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires. No one is immune, but it is the poorest and most marginalised people who are hardest hit.

“We must act, and act quickly, to overcome this challenge as a global community. We look forward to seeing more ambitious action from our government – including doing our fair share for the communities on the frontlines.”

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For interviews or more information please contact:

Kelsey-Rae Taylor | [email protected] | 021 298 9854

Typhoon Goni: Oxfam and partners help nearly 50K displaced people in Bicol, Philippines

November 26, 2020

In response to the onslaught of super Typhoon Goni, which hit Philippines earlier this month and left hundreds of thousands without home, Oxfam together with international and local partners are supporting 49,000 people in the hardest-hit areas of the Bicol region with lifesaving aid.

“We have already reached 8,550 individuals with potable water, water treatment tablets, hygiene kits, food packs and cooked food through community kitchens, sleeping kits, solar lamps, and kitchen essentials. We are also preparing for distributing desperately needed cash to 600 households,” said Lot Felizco, Oxfam Country Director in Philippines.

The multi-agency massive response aims to provide immediate shelter, clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, food and cash assistance, as well as protection to the most vulnerable people in the disaster struck region of Bicol, including the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, and Catanduanes.

Typhoon Goni, followed by Typhoon Vamco a week later, devastated the lives of more three million people in eight regions of the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of people now displaced, are in dire need of clean water, sanitation facilities, and cash to buy food and shelter grade material.

Climate change has been a main cause to some of these frequent weather extremes. In October, the country has been battered by seven consecutive typhoons that ripped apart homes and livelihoods in more than 30 provinces and left an unprecedented destruction.

“These typhoons may have already left the country but their aftermath havoc, including disease outbreaks and food insecurity, is far from over. Recovery will be a long journey for many communities living in poverty and are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change”, added Felizco.

The long term impacts on farmers, who have been reeling from successive emergencies, means their crops and livelihoods, particularly in the “rice bowl” areas of central and North Luzon island which have been hit hard by the typhoon, will be decimated.

“Our livestock and rice, bananas, and vegetables are badly damaged. We were supposed to continue harvesting next week. This is no longer possible”, says Mirriam Solleza, farmer and Oxfam staff who lives in Infanta, Quezon, with her family.

“My house is totally submerged in floodwater and our drinking water is contaminated. Many houses are totally washed out in my village. Toilet facilities are damaged. don’t have safe drinking water in my village. Wells are completely submerged,” added Solleza.

With more typhoons expected to land by the end of the year, thousands of families who are without safe shelter, or emergency essentials — will be more prone to getting diseases including COVID19, unless humanitarian agencies are able to act fast.

Oxfam Philippines urgently needs 1 million GBP to support an additional 50,000 most vulnerable people affected by Super Typhoon Goni.

Photo Caption: Oxfam, People’s Disaster Risk Reduction Network, Inc., and the local disaster risk reduction and management office (LDRRMO) of Virac, Catanduanes assist community members construct a platform for the installation of water bladders to provide immediate access to potable water while initiating repair of safe water sources in San Isidro Village, the community most heavily affected by Super Typhoon Goni in Virac, Catanduanes. Photo Credit: Jhie Durana/Oxfam

Notes to the Editor

· Oxfam has been working in the Philippines for more than 30 years, together with 15 partners, we have reached over 105,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable people in 6 provinces across the country, with life-saving assistance including responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, we have provided food and cash assistance, as well as clean water and sanitation to communities affected by crises.

· The humanitarian response Consortium for the Philippines for Super Typhoon Goni, which is led by Oxfam, consists of Adventist Development & Relief Agency (ADRA), World Vision Philippines, People’s Disaster Risk Reduction Network, and Coastal CORE, with support from the EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid – ECHO. It is currently funded by 1.3 million euro from ECHO to assist families affected by Super Typhoon Goni until April of 2021.

· The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reports that Super Typhoon Goni alone has affected over 2 million people nationwide, and left Php 12 billion ($ 240 M) worth of damage to infrastructure, including 170,000 houses damaged. Days after, typhoon Vamco (local name Ulysses) entered the Philippines, which further aggravated the situation of families barely coping from Goni.

Contact information:

Spokespersons available, please contact: Patricia Miranda | Oxfam Philippines : +639202814009 | [email protected]

Collapse of Western Sahara Ceasefire Threatens Prospect of a Peaceful Solution to 45-year long Conflict

November 24, 2020

Renewed fighting in Western Sahara between the Frente Polisario and Morocco after a 29-year ceasefire threatens regional stability and renews fears for the security and future of Sahrawi refugees – most of whom have been displaced since 1975.

Over 173,000[1] Sahrawis live in the Sahara Desert near Tindouf, Algeria, and are almost entirely dependent upon aid to survive. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated chronic hunger and poverty in the camps since March.

The security implications for the Sahrawi refugee camps as a result of the heightened tension could limit the movement of NGOs within the camps and impact future donor engagement, which would have serious ramifications for the refugee population.

Only 12% of households in the refugee camps are food secure, and over 133,000 people depend on the monthly distributions of produce and dry goods from Oxfam and other aid organizations as their main source of food. Oxfam has also been distributing essential hygiene items and protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oxfam in Algeria Country Director, Haissam Minkara, said: “The potential collapse of the ceasefire is an extremely concerning development for Sahrawi refugees who have been waiting 45 years for a resolution of the Western Sahara conflict. Restarting political negotiations is essential for regional stability and is the best way to avoid any further escalation of the conflict.

Humanitarian agencies must be supported to continue providing life-saving humanitarian aid, even as the situation on the ground deteriorates. The Sahrawi refugee crisis already suffers from the consequences of donor fatigue – as we come to the end of 2020, the UN annual funding appeal is not even 60% funded.

A decrease in funding or disruption of humanitarian operations would be devastating for Sahrawi refugees, leaving them further exposed to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Oxfam calls for the immediate appointment of a new UN Personal Envoy without any further delay. The failure by the UN Secretary-General to appoint a new Envoy for 18 months has left the negotiations between parties to the conflict completely stalled and has undermined momentum toward a political solution. This significant gap in diplomatic leadership has led, at least in part, to this volatile situation.”

The perceived indifference of the international community continues to leave many Sahrawi refugees feeling frustrated and abandoned – in particular young people – and has led to an alarming trend to turn away from the peace process. Adad Ammi, a 25-year old freelance photographer and graphic designer born and raised in Smara camp, said: “Since the fighting broke out near Guerguerat, many young people in the camps have volunteered to join the armed forces. Youth in the camps are the most negatively impacted by the refugee situation because they feel they have no future. And so, they will do what they can to return home.”

Oxfam reaffirms that violence cannot be the answer. The international community must take urgent steps to provide hope to Sahrawi refugees and to reaffirm the importance of peace. This must be done both through the continued provision of urgent humanitarian aid including, food, water, shelter, and access to education, but also through genuine and sustained diplomatic engagement.

The future sought by all young people – and especially those displaced by conflict – is to live in peace. We must do all we can to make sure that dream becomes a reality.

Notes to editors

Since the outbreak of the Western Sahara conflict in 1975, Algeria has hosted a proportion of the Sahrawi population in refugee camps near the city of Tindouf, with the majority dependent on humanitarian aid to sustain basic needs such as access to food, water, and shelter.
Oxfam has been active in the camps since 1975, and over the years, our work has evolved from emergency aid to the multifaceted provision of humanitarian support, resilience programming, and capacity building activities.
For more on Oxfam in the Sahrawi refugee camps: https://www.oxfam.org/en/what-we-do/countries/algeria

[1] The updated population figure from the official UNCHR report from March 2018: ‘Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf, Algeria: Total in-camp population’

Reaction to AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial announcement

November 24, 2020

In response to the announcement today on the results of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial, Oxfam’s Health policy Manager, Anna Marriott, said:

“This is another breakthrough and while the results from the AstraZeneca/Oxford trial are slightly less promising than those from Pfizer and Moderna, they have pledged to do far more to make sure the vaccine reaches people in poorer countries.

“No one company is equipped to produce enough doses to meet the unprecedented global demand on their own. All pharmaceutical companies should work together for a people’s vaccine by urgently transferring their technology and know-how, in order for everyone in the world to have access to a safe and effective vaccine.

“Only then will we see an end to this horrendous pandemic which has taken over a million lives and caused massive hardship for millions more.”

Oxfam is concerned that neither governments nor the pharmaceutical industry are taking the necessary steps now to ensure that there is maximum supply of a new vaccine to meet with the global need.

Notes to editors:

A recent paper from Oxfam America comparing the five leading vaccine contenders found AstraZeneca/Oxford’s vaccine to be most accessible – available at the lowest pandemic price and with the fairest distribution to low and middle-income countries. In comparison to the Pfizer & Moderna vaccines – where the majority of allocated doses have been bought by rich countries – Lower & Middle Income Countries would make up 74 percent of AstraZeneca/Oxford’s allocated doses. https://assets.oxfamamerica.org/media/documents/A_Shot_at_Recovery.pdf

Oxfam is part of The Peoples’ Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of over 20 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

Media enquires:

Contact: Kelsey-Rae Taylor
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +64 21 298 9854