Despite all their promises by the Wealthier countries and the pharmaceutical industry to deliver 1.8 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to the undeveloped and developing nations, they have delivered just 261 million doses, or 14%.
"The approach remains focused on inadequate charity and non-binding donation pledges instead of legally binding sharing, collaboration, and cooperation," reads the People's Vaccine Alliance report. "This approach will not work."
"It is painfully clear that the developing world cannot rely on the largesse and charity of rich nations and pharmaceutical companies, and hundreds of thousands of people are dying from Covid-19 as a result," said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, a member of the People's Vaccine Alliance. "This is beyond appalling.” Only 1.3% of people in low-income countries are vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Oxfam.
The U.K. has delivered fewer than 10% of the 100 million doses it promised.
Germany has only delivered 12% of the 100 millon doses it pledged, and while the U.S. has sent nearly 177 million doses to developing countries, that accounts for just 16% of what it promised.
"The failure of rich country donations and the failure of COVAX have the same root cause―we have given over control of vaccine supply to a small number of pharmaceutical companies, who are prioritizing their own profits," said Robbie Silverman, senior manager of private sector advocacy for Oxfam. "These companies can't produce enough to vaccinate the world, they are artificially constraining the supply, and they will always put their rich customers at the front of the line."
United Kingdom, Norway, and Germany are continuing to block "the real solutions to vaccine inequality," said Oxfam International—namely, a waiver of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement which has blocked developing countries from producing their own generic versions of the vaccines developed by companies including Pfizer and Moderna.
How can we rely upon any pledge to cut CO2 emissions when countries refuse to cooperate to end a pandemic that has killed so many.
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