Make COVID-19 vaccines accessible to all

As the Corona Virus has rampaged the world since 2019, over 213 million cases have been reported with over 4.6 million deaths. Zambia, has confirmed 205,107 cases with 3,586 deaths. These saddening figures continue to rise with each new wave.

The pandemic has impacted almost every corner of life, causing global economies to stall, changing the way we work and interact with our loved ones, and stretching healthcare systems to the limit.

COVID-19 vaccination is now offering a way to transition out of this phase of the pandemic. Without them, many scientists believe that natural heard immunity is not suffiecient to restore society to its normal status quo and prevent extreme fatality. Vaccines are the best chance for humanity to conquer the virus.

However, for most third world countries, there is a challenge; despite rising infections and deaths across many developing countries, Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna have allocated more than 90 per cent of their COVID-19 vaccine supplies to rich countries.

‘Of the more than four billion vaccine doses administered globally, 75% have been administered in just 10 countries. While in most low-income countries, just over 1% of people have received at least one dose,’ says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation.

According to the World Health Organisation, Director General there is need for a massive global push to vaccinate at least;
• 10% of the population of every country by September
• 40% by the end of the year
• 70% by mid-next year

As of 26 August 2021, Zambia has vaccinated a cumulative total of 447,259 (252,707 fully vaccinated) people. That is about 3 percent of WHO recommended percentage for countries by September 2021. Meaning Zambia still needs to vaccinate over a million people by September.

According to the Great Vaccine Robbery report by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, Big Pharma is deliberately blocking increased production while inflating vaccine prices. Corporate profiteering, along with vaccine hoarding by wealthier capitalist countries, threatens to possibly extend the pandemic for years.

Until the vaccines become a “global public good” and Big Pharma shares vaccine technology freely, the world’s population is in danger.

We are calling for an end to the ever-growing vaccine inequality currently characterizing access to COVID-19 vaccination between the global north and the global south. Humanity is in a collective race against the virus and its variants. It is critical to use every tool at our disposal to end the pandemic everywhere.

Growing calls are demanding for an end of vaccine monopoly but rather equal distribution, access, and not-for profit “people’s vaccine”.

Humana People to People support the People’s Vaccine Alliance in advocating for a COVID-19 vaccine to be available everywhere, for all and free of charge. It is clear, COVID-19 pandemic will not end until most of the world is vaccinated.

Each passing day, we are helplessly seeing poor and medium-income countries battle with a public health catastrophe. The Delta variant has already led to a “pandemic among the unvaccinated.” The effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine is no longer questionable; abundant evidence available is increasingly supporting that when one is fully vaccinated chances are high one can reduce the risk of getting the virus or losing life after contracting coronavirus.

MAKE VACCINES FREE FOR ALL TODAY