Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has sent an impassioned appeal to Pope Francis asking the pontiff to “press” world leaders to redistribute coronavirus vaccines to reach the most needy.
Rich countries have stockpiled supplies of vaccines, “creating a situation in which hundreds of millions of doses could now expire before ever making it into someone’s arm,” the October 25 letter states. “With G20 leaders meeting in Rome this month, we desperately need a moral breakthrough.”
The appeal, cosigned by dozens of scholars and prominent international figures, declares that 6 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, “but 70% of these doses were administered by ten countries, while only 2% of people in low-income countries have received a vaccine dose.”
Mr. Brown and his cosigners believe that the meeting of the G20 in Rome offers a precious opportunity for Pope Francis to bring his considerable moral weight to bear on those who have the power to effect significant change on the way vaccines are being distributed.
Vaccine inequality “can be ended,” the letter asserts, but it will require “high-level action by the ministers of the wealthiest countries.”
What is needed, the letter states, is to “redistribute available vaccines and switch delivery contracts from countries that have overordered to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility, the international bulk-purchasing agency aimed at equitable access to vaccines globally.”
“We urge you to press this idea on the G20 finance ministers when they meet in Rome on October 29 and the leaders who meet in your city on October 30,” the letter declares.
Pedestrians walk past a poster designed and displayed overnight by Italian street artist Mauro Pallotta, aka Maupal, on October 1, 2020 in the Borgo Pio district of Rome near The Vatican, inspired by an icon of St. Stephen, representing the Saint holding a hypodermic syringe of vaccine and reading in Latin “Sacred Vaccine”. (TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)
The appeal asks the pope “to support action to address the unequal distribution of global vaccines between high and low-income countries.”
Concretely, Brown proposes that 240 million stockpiled vaccines are held by just four countries – the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and Canada – and these vaccine supplies “could be airlifted immediately to countries most in need.”
While G7 nations have a massive vaccine stockpile of unused doses surplus to their requirements, “only 5% of Africa is fully vaccinated,” the appeal notes, adding that similar problems “exist in large parts of Asia and Latin America.”
The appeal goes on to outline specific requirements for airlifts in December, January, and February, while also calling on the World Bank to “make available additional finance to immediately build the capacity needed to administer vaccines quickly and effectively in not only the urban but the rural areas of low-income countries.”
“Without a detailed plan, 100 million vaccine doses will have passed their use-by date by year’s end,” it declares. “If we do not act quickly, the figure could exceed 200 million by the end of January 2022.”
“When the G20 convenes in Rome, we hope and pray that they will agree that the poorest and the most vulnerable can finally have access to the miracle of life-saving vaccines,” the letter concludes.
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