From Amnesty International USA (http://www.amnestyusa.org):
We will not remain silent: Amnesty just released a new report1 on the state of global vaccination rates, and it is dire. As the U.S. administers booster shots, billions of people across the globe are STILL waiting to get their first.
Meanwhile, companies like Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson are refusing to share vaccine technology and waive intellectual property rights – even though they are on track to earn over $130 billion dollars by the end of 2022.
We can reverse course, but we need your help. We’re ramping up our campaign to demand that Big Pharma produce an additional 2 billion vaccines by the end of this year for those in dire need, echoing the same recommendation by the World Health Organization2.
Go to https://act.amnestyusa.org/page/91775/action/1 to send your letter directly to the CEOs of Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, demanding they share vaccine technology and knowledge with countries in dire need.
We are in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and it is still far from being under control. Scandalous levels of inequality exist in the availability of vaccines globally, while pharma companies prioritize profits over lives.
The greed of these pharmaceutical companies has created a massive, preventable onslaught of vaccine inequity. And it’s deepening so many other inequities that already exist. Tens of thousands of people are dying EACH WEEK across countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia…because they cannot access vaccines.
There are people and companies to blame for these deaths, and these people have names and addresses:
Pfizer and BioNTech have so far delivered nine times more vaccines to Sweden alone than to all low-income countries combined — less than 1% of their production so far. High prices mean the companies are set to make over $86 billion by the end of next year. That’s not acceptable.
Moderna has not yet delivered a single vaccine dose to a low-income country. Higher prices mean it is set to make over $47 billion by the end of next year. That’s not acceptable.
Johnson & Johnson will not deliver the vast majority of its commitments to the African Union until 2022. That’s not acceptable.
This cycle of grief and death CAN end — but only if we can pressure these companies enough to force them to ramp up vaccine access. Their swift action could save countless lives. But if no action is taken, there will be no end in sight for the pandemic.
We’ve seen vaccines save lives and protect people in our own communities and all around the world. But until we are all safe, none of us are.
The path forward is clear — Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson MUST put lives over profits, and expand access to vaccines right now.
[1] https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/new-report-shows-leading-covid-19-vaccine-pharma-companies-fueling-unprecedented-human-rights-crisis/ [2] https://www.who.int/news/item/27-05-2021-covax-joint-statement-call-to-action-to-equip-covax-to-deliver-2-billion-doses-in-2021Image Credit: AFP via Getty Images
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