UN Secretary-General: Prioritize Global Vaccine Equity NOW | Physicians for Human Rights

UN Secretary-General: Prioritize Global Vaccine Equity NOW

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Take action today to urge United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres to make equitable global COVID-19 vaccine access a priority at the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly. 

Despite the rapid development of effective vaccines and efforts to ramp up production, much of the world’s population has limited – if any – access to this critical intervention, while high-income countries continue to hoard vaccine doses and refuse to take the necessary steps to ensure equitable global distribution.

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Prioritize global vaccine equity at the upcoming UN General Assembly.
Dear United Nations Secretary-General Guterres,

I am joining with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in urging you to make equitable global COVID-19 vaccine access a central priority at the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly. Despite the remarkable achievements of several countries in developing effective vaccines to protect against the coronavirus and initial efforts to ramp up production of those vaccines, much of the world’s population has limited – if any – access to this critical technology. Instead, a number of high-income countries continue to hoard vaccine doses for booster shots while refusing to support the steps needed to achieve widespread production and distribution of vaccines to high-risk populations across the globe.

For months, organizations like PHR and the People’s Vaccine Alliance have sounded the alarm for global vaccine equity. As Delta and other increasingly dangerous variants mutate and further threaten global efforts to combat the pandemic, it is critical to center global vaccine production and equitable distribution at the 76th session of the General Assembly. All eyes will be on New York City as world leaders meet in September. We urge you to use the moral authority of the United Nations to press high-income, vaccine-hoarding countries to commit to a plan to vaccinate all high-risk populations around the world, including frontline health care workers.

Such a plan should include waiving intellectual property rights on vaccine recipes, increasing resources and technology transfers to pave the way for vaccine production in all regions of the world, and a stronger commitment to COVAX to facilitate a more equitable distribution of vaccines to the people and places that need the vaccine most. With the global death toll already over 4.5 million people and new variants continuing to drive surges, your global leadership to press world powers into action is needed now more than ever.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]