CAMPAIGN NEWS
© Jess Hurd
Rich countries hold out on vaccine access as pharma profits rise Even after an estimated 20 million excess deaths around the world during the pandemic, a handful of rich countries have continued their grim mission to block the suspension of intellectual property on Covid-19 vaccines and treatments (the ‘TRIPS waiver’), with the UK at the forefront. In March, after the world marked two years since the WHO declared a global pandemic, Global Justice Now’s ‘Decolonise Vaccines’ speaker tour came to eight UK towns and cities. It was brilliant to see so many supporters, old and new, in attendance. South African human rights lawyer Fatima Hassan joined us for the first leg, then Kenyan health activist Maurine Murenga, galvanising us with stories of their campaigns that confronted political and corporate interests head on.
Just a couple of days after our speaker tour started, a leaked text on the TRIPS waiver emerged from the World Trade Organization, with some reporting a compromise between South Africa, India, the US and the EU. But it soon became clear that rich nations had conceded very little. To help create the space for India and South Africa to resist the ‘deal’, the global People’s Vaccine Alliance sprang into action. In the UK, we worked with partners to coordinate a letter from MPs and Lords condemning the text, and held a roundtable in parliament where Fatima Hassan let rip on its many flaws. As Ninety-Nine goes to press, we await news of the latest WTO talks. In April, Pfizer and Moderna both announced enormous 2021 profits, with Pfizer doubling its annual revenue
from the previous year. We joined global protests on the day that both held their AGM. It followed positive news in February, when the WHO’s mRNA vaccine hub in South Africa announced that it has successfully reverse engineered the Moderna vaccine, and hopes to begin production later in the year. The WHO later announced 13 partner countries to share the findings with, increasing the prospect that low- and middleincome countries will be able to rely on making their own vaccines, rather than being beholden to big pharma companies, in the near future. Watch the speaker tour at: globaljustice.org.uk/decolonisevaccines As Pfizer held its AGM online in April, we went to the company's UK headquarters to demand an end to pandemic profiteering.
2022 Ninety-Nine 3
